The Best Moments Are Those That Aren't Planned
by mmauney12
Summary: What happens when Benjamin Martin's oldest daughter, Sarah, is captured by James Wilkins, second in command under Lt. Col. William Tavington, on Tavington's orders? Will Ben and his militia save her, or will Burwell and his regiment get there first? What about when Sarah refuses Tavington and his men? Only time will tell. (Possible rating change later on) And I only own Sarah
1. It has begun

A/N: Hi there! So this is my first fanfic for The Patriot, hopefully it won't be too terrible. I've made some small changes and won't really be following the movie (which seems really hard to do with this kind of story I think), but nothing too drastic that it makes a big difference in what happens. I would love to know what you all think of this since it is my first one on this particular movie. Enjoy!

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"Sarah, will you go get your father and brothers? Lunch is ready." Abigaile asked me when she saw me coming downstairs.

"Of course." I said, smiling. The first place I went was the barn because I knew my father would be there working on a rocking chair. Again. He tried so hard to build one that would hold some weight, but couldn't get it right. I found my brothers Samuel and Nathan right outside the barn door, watching as my father sat in the chair and, as we all knew it would, broke.

"Okay you two, let's go, Abigaile has lunch ready." I said as they sniggered into their hands, but instead of going to the house, they followed me into the barn.

"Father, lunch is ready." I said, and saw little Susan sitting on the side, watching as my father worked I assumed.

"And there's a post rider coming." Nathan said.

"Okay, I'll be there in a moment." Father said as he began picking up pieces of the chair. Susan came over to me and I carried her back to the house, Samuel and Nathan ahead of us. Once we got to the house, my other brothers Thomas and Gabriel came running up to the house with two large birds they'd gotten while hunting and I saw the post rider Samuel and Nathan were talking about coming up the lane.

"Is that all you could get today?" I said to Gabriel and Thomas, teasing them.

"Yes, dear sister. Only the best for this family." Gabriel teased back. When we were little, I would go play in the woods with Thomas and Gabriel, even though I was eight years older than Gabriel, and occasionally we would take a slingshot with us to see who could get a squirrel or small bird. They usually got mad at me because I had such good aim with a slingshot and they didn't. But after mother had my other sister Margaret she wouldn't let me go into the woods with Thomas and Gabriel anymore. Unfortunately my mother died when she gave birth to Susan, the youngest of the eight of us, and I had to help out a lot more after that, hardly ever seeing my brothers at all because I had to help feed Susan and teach Nathan, Samuel, William, and Margaret what I could since there wasn't a school close by.

After lunch, I helped father, Thomas, and Gabriel out in the fields picking what we could to start storing for winter. As we were working, we heard another horse coming up to the house. I looked at my brother's with a little bit of confusion. We walked out to the small road that ran through our crops and saw our father already there, talking to someone in an army uniform and we knew then that the inevitable war had started.

"Ah, children, you remember Harry Burwell?" my father said, seeing us standing a few feet from them. I remembered him clearly. He had fought with my father in the French and Indian War and visited us frequently until I was about thirteen years old, but I wasn't sure if Thomas and Gabriel would or not.

"Yes of course. Mr. Burwell." I said, giving a slight curtsey.

"I'm afraid it's Colonel now, dear." Father said and I looked at him slightly surprised. My suspicions were true, the war had started.

"Benjamin, I've come to ask you to serve in the army again. But against the British this time." Colonel Burwell said.

"Sarah, Gabriel, Thomas, could you take what we've picked so far to the house and give it to Abigaile? I have some business matters to discuss." Father said, and me and my brothers nodded and picked up what we had and took it back to the house.

"Do you think the war's started?" Thomas asked as we walked slowly back to the house.

"Of course it has. You heard father. His old friend there is Colonel Harry Burwell now." I said.

"Do you think Father would let me fight?" Gabriel asked, and I stopped, slightly gaping at him.

"Gabriel, you know he wouldn't. Not after what he went through." I said, walking again.

"Well that was him. I want to fight for this country. I have to." Gabriel said.

"No you don't. Your family needs you. Both of you." I said before Thomas could say anything about wanting to fight.

"I knew you wouldn't understand." Gabriel said and didn't say anything else the whole way back to the house.

That night there was some tension around the table at dinner since the war started and I suspected both Gabriel and Thomas said something to my father about fighting in the war earlier that day, plus Father had insisted that Colonel Burwell stay for dinner, but everyone was trying to keep the war out of any conversation.

"So, Colonel, how is your wife doing? I very much miss seeing her." I said to Colonel Burwell to try and ease some of the tension around the table, remembering the childhood visits from them both of them and she would always bring me a small toy or something else that could keep my interest for hours at a time (usually a book when I got too old for toys). What I didn't expect was to see a flash of pain in the Colonel's eyes when I asked.

"She died last year while giving birth I'm afraid." He said, pain clear in his voice and expression.

"What of the child?" my father asked warily.

"He passed too. Born too early. He wasn't strong enough to live more than a couple of weeks." The Colonel said and I suddenly felt very sorry for asking the question at all.

"Oh, Colonel Burwell, I am so sorry I asked. If I had known-" I said, but he raised his hand as a way to silence me.

"No, it's okay. You don't need to apologize, Sarah. It was a sincere question. Don't worry about it." Colonel Burwell said with a small smile.

"All right. I hate to pry so, but what was his name?" I asked carefully.

"Michael." He said.

"That's a lovely name." I said with a small smile of my own and I could fell every person in my family staring at me so I decided to shut my mouth.

"Harry, when will you begin recruiting?" my father asked, again returning to the subject of the war that I had tried so hard to avoid.

"Immediately. I'll go as many places as I need to to get as many men as possible." Colonel Burwell said.

"So the war really has started." I said quietly, looking down at my plate.

"Well, not officially. Not in South Carolina anyway. The Assembly still needs to pass the levee." Colonel Burwell said.

"When will this be?" My father asked since he was an important person in the Assembly.

"I'm not sure. Hopefully soon though." Colonel Burwell said.

After dinner I helped Abigail put Susan, William, Samuel, Nathan, and Margaret to bed, then joined Father, Colonel Burwell, Thomas, and Gabriel in the parlor where they were casually talking about the upcoming war.

"Father, what did the post rider bring today?" I asked, intentionally cutting off Gabriel while he asked Colonel Burwell about joining the army, earning a small glare from him.

"Oh, yes, I'd nearly forgotten." He said, picking up the small stack on the table. "Charlotte's written you." He said to me as he handed me a letter.

"Oh good." I said, taking the letter and opening it. I read through it quickly, smiling slightly as everyone else read through what was theirs.

After some small talk, Colonel Burwell stood and said, "Well, I should be going. It's getting late."

"Stay the night, I insist." My father said, also standing.

"I wouldn't want to trouble you." Colonel Burwell said.

"It's no trouble at all, I assure you. We've got an extra room or two. Sarah, could you go get a room ready?" my father said.

"Of course." I said, going upstairs to get a spare room ready for the Colonel to stay the night.

"All right, there's a room ready. I'll show you to it, Colonel." I said when I got back downstairs.

"Thank you, Sarah." My father said as I led Colonel Burwell up the stairs.

"Here we are. I really am sorry about asking about your wife, if I had known I wouldn't have asked." I said at the door near the end of the hall.

"Really, it's all right. I don't mind." He said.

"Well, I'll leave you to it then." I said.

"Thank you, Sarah. And don't worry about your brothers, if they do fight in the war I'll make sure they're in my regiment." He said, giving my arm a comforting squeeze, then went in the room and closed the door before I could say anything. I made my way slowly back to my room at the end of the hall, but once in bed I couldn't sleep for a few hours more, the last thing Colonel Burwell said staying on my mind.

The next morning I got up early to help Abigaile with breakfast like I always did and while we were in the kitchen, Colonel Burwell walked by the door. Noticing us, he stopped and said, "Good morning, ladies. Sarah, could you tell your father that I've left to go to Charles Town?"

"Yes, but please at least stay for breakfast." I said, but down the bowl in my hand.

"I don't want to trouble you any more than I already have. I hope to see you with your father in Charles Town." He said, then turned and left.

"If you want my opinion, he talks much too familiar with you." Abigaile said once the beating of hooves on the ground could no longer be heard.

"Oh he doesn't mean anything by it. I've known him my whole life practically." I said, resuming cooking.

"That may be so, but how old was he when you were born?" she asked.

"I'm not really sure to be honest. Though I know he's younger than father is." I said.

"He was fifteen when you were born. He's just five years younger than I am. He's aged very quickly since his wife died I think." My father said from the doorway.

"Yes I'm sure he has. I didn't realize he was that young." I said, making my father chuckle a little bit.

"Yes, I suspect so. You know Sarah, you're twenty-six now, you should be married and have at least one child by now, not still be here having to help out with everything." My father said, sitting in a chair at the small kitchen table.

"I don't mind it too much. Besides, no boys my age interest me." I said, taking some of the food into the dining room.

"Yes I know. I wouldn't want you marrying any of them anyway. But there is one person I would be more than willing to marry you off to." He said when I walked back in the kitchen.

"I could never marry him, you know that." I said.

"Of course you could. I don't see any reason why you shouldn't." he said, trying to weasel me into agreeing with him.

"Father, I will not marry Colonel Burwell no matter what you say. I've known him practically my whole life. Plus he just lost his wife and son just last year." I said, taking something else to the dining room.

"I didn't say it would have to be now, especially with this war going on and everything. You should at least consider it, maybe let him court you a bit before he has to go off to war." He said once I was back in the kitchen.

"Father!" I exclaimed, "He may be an old friend of yours, but I cannot marry him. Besides, I don't want a marriage just for convenience."

"It was just a suggestion. I promise I won't push it too hard." He said, making me make a noise of frustration.

"I'm going to go get everyone up and ready for the day." I said to Abigaile. I was tired of hearing my father's nonsense.

"All right, but hurry up about it. Everything's about done I think." She said and I headed upstairs to wake everyone up.

The next few days went by without much of anything out of the ordinary happening. On Saturday, we got another unexpected visit from Colonel Burwell. I was in the house helping Abigaile clean up some when we heard a horse approaching the house.

"I'll go see who it is." I said to Abigaile, standing up and smoothing down my old dress that I used to clean in as best I could. I didn't expect to find Colonel Burwell in front of the porch.

"Good afternoon, Colonel. Is there anything I can do for you?" I said, walking down the steps.

"Hello, Sarah. Is your father around?" he said.

"Yes, he's probably down at the barn." I said, still confused as to why he was here.

"Thank you." He said, then headed off towards the barn with his horse.

"Well that was strange." I said quietly to myself as I walked back into the house.

"Who was it?" Abigaile asked when I joined her again to continue cleaning.

"Colonel Burwell again. I have no idea why he would be here this time." I said, still very confused.

"Only time will tell." Abigaile said as we continued cleaning.

Later that night, after supper and everyone else was in bed, even Thomas and Gabriel, my father was still talking to Colonel Burwell in the parlor. I had gotten a room ready again for him to stay the night before dinner and now I sat quietly reading as the two men discussed something in hushed voices while drinking some whiskey, what exactly it was I wasn't sure. Closing the book I had just finished, I looked up at the small clock on the mantle of fireplace and saw that it was almost midnight.

"Father, I hate to interrupt, but it's almost midnight. Don't forget about having to go to church tomorrow." I said.

"Ah, yes. Well, Harry, what do you say we call it a night and continue this discussion at another time?" my father said, loud enough that I could hear it this time.

"That would be just fine." The Colonel said.

"Sarah, will you show him to his room? I'm going to go put this up." My father said, picking up the whiskey bottle and two small glasses they had been drinking out of.

"Of course." I said and stood up, Colonel Burwell following. "You'll be in the same room as before. Good night, Colonel."

"Good night, Sarah." He said as I walked toward my room.


	2. An Unexpected Hunting Trip

Here's part two! I'll try to get a part out almost every day if I can since I have time right now (no school, yay!). Enjoy!

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The next morning, no one really said much of anything at breakfast or on the way to church. During the service, Father made me sit beside Colonel Burwell and I knew what he was up to. After the service, everyone stood outside talking, I took particular notice of my brother Gabriel talking to Anne Howard while my father was talking to her father.

"Do you see what I see, dear sister?" Thomas said, coming up behind me.

"I believe I do. I wonder if we'll see a wedding before the year is out." I said, turning toward him.

"Maybe, but if the war really has started, especially in South Carolina, I wouldn't count on it." He said and I knew he was probably right.

"Hello there, Sarah, how have you been?" I heard someone say from behind me.

"James Wilkins. I'm doing very good, thank you. How are you?" I said when I turned around, not having talked to James in a while.

"I'm doing well. I'm sure you've heard that the war has finally made it's way to South Carolina?" he said.

"Yes, unfortunately. My father's old friend, Harry Burwell, came and told us about it a few days ago. I had really hoped it wouldn't get here so quickly though." I said worriedly.

"We all knew it would happen though. Well, have a good day, I need to go find my father and take him home." James said with a slight bow and I nodded back as he walked off.

I walked around a little bit, then found my father and asked him, "Father, is Colonel Burwell going to be having lunch with us today?"

"No, I'm afraid not." He said.

"Well good, because I know what you're up to." I said and walked back toward the cart we brought to town.

The rest of the day went by fairly slowly since there wasn't anything planned for the day, but at dinner things got a little tense.

"Father, I want to join the army once the war has officially begun here." Gabriel said suddenly while we were eating. Father stopped and slowly put his fork down, staring at Gabriel for a little while before answering.

"Absolutely not." He finally said.

"Why not? You've done it." Gabriel said.

"Yes, and that's not something I ever want to do again." My father said, a sense of finality in his tone, but I knew Gabriel wouldn't give up that easily.

"I want to fight for this country." Gabriel said in one last desperate attempt.

"I will not allow you to do that and that's final." Father said, then got up and went out onto the porch and Gabriel also got up, but went upstairs to the room he and Thomas shared. After everyone was finished eating and I'd helped Abigaile take everything back into the kitchen, I went out to the porch, where my father stayed for the rest of the meal, sitting in a chair by the rail.

"Father, you know I don't want Gabriel fighting as much as you do, but when Colonel Burwell left earlier this week, he told me that if Gabriel or Thomas did fight in the war, Colonel Burwell would make sure both of them were in his regiment so he could keep an eye on them." I said as my father stared out towards nothing.

"I'm glad he said that. But he knows that won't convince me to let them fight." Father said, still not looking at me.

"I know, and I'm sure he knows that too. He wants you to fight too, doesn't he?" I asked.

"Yes. As an officer. I think as Colonel to the militia." He said.

"If you did agree to it, you would do a very fine job. But I know you want to stay here with your family. I just wish Gabriel and Thomas could feel the same way." I said.

"They're young. They feel like it's a duty they have to fulfill." He said, finally looking at me, "Come, you should be asleep by now."

"I don't mind staying up. It's nice out here on nights like this." I said, referring to the quietness and full moon that night.

"It is nice, but don't stay out here too long. I'm going to head inside." He said, standing up, and walked back into the house. I stayed out on the porch for a little while longer, then eventually headed back inside and went to bed.

The next morning, I woke up and did everything that I would usually do, helping Abigaile and everything, then my father came and said something that threw me off guard.

"Sarah, why don't you go hunting with Gabriel today? I'm having Thomas stay here and help Margaret with William and Susan today." He said as I finished cleaning up after breakfast.

I abruptly stopped and stared at my father for a moment before I said, very confused, "Okay." Then continued with what I was doing.

Soon Gabriel came downstairs to get everything together for hunting and said, "Sarah, let me know when you're ready to go."

"All right, I should be done with this in a minute." I said, referring to the dishes from breakfast.

"Okay, I'll be out on the porch." Gabriel said and walked out onto the porch.

I finished up cleaning and went out to the porch. "Okay, I'm ready to go." I said to Gabriel.

"Let's go." He said and we started off towards the woods.

"So do you know the real reason why Father had me go hunting with you today instead of Thomas?" I said as we entered the woods.

"I don't know. I think he wants us to be closer as siblings. You know, we were practically inseparable until Thomas was about five years old." He said.

"We were, weren't we? I miss those days. We had no cares in the world and Mama was still here. I miss her a lot sometimes." I said as Gabriel helped me step over an overturned tree.

"Me too. I hear that Father is trying to get rid of you." He said, trying to lighten the mood by teasing me a little bit.

"It really seems like he is. He wants me to marry Colonel Burwell of all people. He's fifteen years older than I am! I told Father that I couldn't do that especially since he just lost his wife and son last year. Besides, I want to marry for love. Is that so much to ask? I mean, you've done it." I said.

"What? I have not." Gabriel said.

"Oh really? And what about Anne Howard? You two are perfect for each other." I said, deciding not to tease about it yet.

"Well, she is a lovely person to be around, and quite beautiful-" he started, but I cut him off.

"So you do like her! I think you should start courting her at least before this war starts." I said.

"I couldn't do that!" he said, but I knew he was thinking about it.

"Well why not? Like I said, you're perfect for each other. Plus I would love to have her as a sister-in-law." I said.

"I'm sure you would. And you two would cause all sorts of trouble together, I know you would." He said accusingly.

"Maybe. But it's not like we'd do anything to actually hurt someone." I said.

"Not intentionally. Hey, what about that James Wilkins I saw you talking to after church today? He's not too much older than you I think." Gabriel said, trying to change the subject.

"Oh that's funny that is. You know that if he joins the army he'll join the British army, right?" I said.

"Maybe not. You never know, he might've changed his mind." Gabriel said.

"I assure you he hasn't. Not that I would know of course, but surely he hasn't. His whole family are against the independence of this country." I said.

"Well I still think you two would be a good match." He said and I just laughed at him, that being the last thing said between us until we got home.

The hunting trip me and Gabriel took that morning was a good one, we brought home five good sized rabbits and a wild turkey. Gabriel and Father worked on the kills until it was time for dinner, preserving the rabbit the best they could so it would last a little while. That night I couldn't sleep and decided to go downstairs around one in the morning, but when I got down to the parlor I noticed my father was still up.

"Father? What are you still doing up?" I said quietly from the doorway.

"Sarah. You should be in bed." He said.

"So should you." I said, walking in the parlor and sitting next to him. "What's got you worried?" I knew he stayed up late when he was worrying about something.

"Just this war that seems to have found its way here. There are a lot of people that are going to expect me to fight, but that's just not something I want to do." He said.

"Then don't. There isn't any reason why you should. I don't think I would know what to do if you weren't here." I said.

"You all would go stay with your Aunt Charlotte in Charles Town if I did fight in the war. But that isn't going to happen. Now come on, let's go to bed." He said and we walked up the stairs together and he went one way towards his room and I went the other way towards mine.

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Thanks for reading, everyone! I would love to know what you think about this, reviews would be awesome to see! Thanks!


	3. Charles Town

Okay, so in this chapter there will be some stuff from the movie along with some changes (i.e. I'm not killing Thomas, that particular situation will still be there, but with some changes to it and I'll be slightly changing some of the dialogue so it isn't word for word) and I would love to have some other opinions on something. Like it says in the summary, Sarah gets captured by the Dragoons (not sure when that'll happen yet, not this chapter though I think) and she gets rescued by either her father or Burwell and his men (haven't decided on that yet either, there's still time) and I've been thinking about maybe having her do some fighting in the battle that Tavington gets killed. I'm really not sure about doing that even though after she gets rescued and everything she'll be living in the camp since the situation wouldn't make it ideal to go back to her brothers and sisters. I would love to hear what you all think about that and this chapter! Enjoy! :)

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The next week went by without any kind of incident (unless you count Thomas and Gabriel getting into a fight and incident, of course) and I was beginning to wonder if the war coming to South Carolina was actually just some gossip. But, as it usually happens, I was wrong. That Thursday another post rider came with a newspaper and a letter for Father, giving me a bad feeling about it all. No one dared to look at any of it until that night though. That night once everyone else was in bed, I sat with Thomas and Gabriel and impatiently waited for Father to look at the mail. We saw him come downstairs and go into the parlor where the mail was and just as he was about to pick it up he glanced our way and saw that we were all watching him and decided not to look at it. Thomas and Gabriel gave each other discouraged looks and I went back to reading.

"So what was in the mail?" Father said once we all were sure that he wouldn't look at it. Gabriel and Thomas both got up quickly and ran into the other room, getting there before me since I decided to walk calmly over there. Gabriel took the newspaper to see what news there was about the war. He started to read about how the northern colonies were debating independence and something about a magistrate's house and the man getting tarred and feathered. I wasn't really paying attention at that point because that wasn't the news I wanted to hear. I was more interested in who was joining the army more than anything.

"What about the Continental Congress?" Father said, which did interest me because of the debate of independence.

"It says here that they hope to have a declaration of independence by July." Gabriel said.

"Won't that just cause more trouble?" I asked, knowing that the British would see that as 'treason against the crown' as they liked to call it.

"Of course it will. But then we'll at least be one step closer to being an independent nation." Father said.

"Good. I want this war to be over with as quickly as possible." I said.

"Peter Cuppin joined the army." Gabriel suddenly said. "He's just seventeen, a year younger than I." but Father just gave him a look, one that we all knew quite well.

"Well, the Assembly's been convened so we'll be going to-" Father started, but Thomas cut him off, getting excited.

"Charles Town? We're going to Charles Town?" he said.

"Yes, we'll leave first thing in the morning." Father said with a small smile.

"We'll stay with Aunt Charlotte, right?" I said, also getting excited.

"Of course we will. She'll be glad to see all of you." Father said and folded the letter back up.

We all stayed up a little bit longer until Father told us that we had to go to bed. The next morning we all woke up bright and early to head to Charles Town. We all wore our best clothes, then got the horses and carts ready and headed on to Charles Town. When we got to Aunt Charlotte's, all the younger ones ran ahead and were greeted by Aunt Charlotte at the door.

"They're huge, what have you been feeding them?" she said as the rest of us caught up.

"Well, they're from good stock. On their mother's side of course." Father said.

"Thank you. Come inside, wait and see what I have." Aunt Charlotte said and the exclamation of "Presents!?" started as the younger ones ran inside.

"You three, keep an eye on them." Father said to me, Gabriel, and Thomas.

"Thomas!" Gabriel said as he (Thomas) ran inside too and I ran after them.

The presents Aunt Charlotte had for all of us were all very wonderful and I noticed when Abigaile came in with Susan that she had been given a doll that had belonged to our mother.

"Sarah, would you come here a minute?" I heard Aunt Charlotte call to me and I followed her into a small sitting room.

"How have you been?" she asked as we sat down.

"Very well. Thankfully there hasn't been too much going on at home. I almost thought the war wasn't going to come to South Carolina until Father got the letter about the Assembly." I said.

"Ah yes, of course. I hope they vote to not support it. I know that's how your father will vote." Aunt Charlotte said. "You haven't happened to meet any eligible young men, have you?" she then asked, eager to change the subject.

"No, I haven't. Though if Father had his way I'd already be engaged to Colonel Harry Burwell. He's visited Father twice in the past month." I said.

"But I thought he was married." She said in confusion.

"He was, but his wife died in child birth last year, unfortunately the little boy didn't survive for very long either. I made the mistake of asking about her one of the times he visited. I felt absolutely horrible for asking after he told me what had happened." I said.

"Oh don't worry about that. They used to visit frequently when you were little, didn't they?" she asked me.

"Yes. I loved it when they did. For the first few years though I think they were just engaged." I said.

That night, we watched as a small riot formed across the street from Aunt Charlotte's house with dummies of redcoats being hanged and burned. We all saw Gabriel down on the street and waved at him, then I went and joined him.

"Gabriel, you haven't happened to have seen the Howard family, have you? I would love to see Anne again." I said mischievously.

"I believe her father is about to give a speech over there. Let's go see if we can find her." He said and we walked over to where Mr. Howard was starting a speech. "Miss Howard?" he said as we walked up to Anne and her mother, her mother nodding at us both.

"You know who I am, Gabriel Martin. And the last time you saw me I was eleven years old and you put ink in my tea." Anne said and I suppressed a laugh.

"Oh, um, I think that was one of my younger brothers. Perhaps it was Samuel or Nathan." Gabriel said nervously.

"No, it was you. And it turned my teeth black for a month." Anne said stubbornly.

"Even so, I believe you are forgetting a couple of weeks ago when we all saw you at church." I finally spoke up.

"Sarah! I didn't see you there. How are you?" Anne said, hugging me.

"Oh I'm fine. You?" I said.

"Well, I was fine until he came along." She said, referring to Gabriel, making me laugh.

"He's rather insufferable, isn't he?" I said, laughing.

"Yes, very." Anne said, also laughing.

"Well, if you two are done making fun of me, we should be getting back to Aunt Charlotte's, Sarah." Gabriel said and even in the darkening twilight I could tell that his face was a little red.

"Of course. I'll see you later, Anne." I said as we walked off and she waved. On our way back to Aunt Charlotte's house, we ran into none other than Colonel Harry Burwell.

"Colonel Burwell." Gabriel said with a nod.

"Oh, hello there you two. I wondered if I would see any of the Martin children out here." He said cheerily.

"Yes, we were just heading back to our Aunt's house now." Gabriel said while I just stood there quietly.

"I suppose you both will be at the Assembly meeting tomorrow to see what happens?" the Colonel asked.

"Yes, along with our brother Thomas and Aunt Charlotte. I hope the vote will turn out favorably." Gabriel said.

"Yes, I hope so too. Everyone knows the war is inevitable." The Colonel said grimly.

"Just because it's inevitable doesn't necessarily mean that it has to happen." I said before thinking, making Gabriel give me a look.

"And what makes you say that, Miss Martin?" the Colonel said, being much more formal with me in a public square than he was at my family's farm.

"Well, surely something could be arranged with King George. Some kind of treaty or something." I said.

"There have already been too many treaties that have been broken alongside tax acts and such. I believe you share your father's views on the war?" he said, and I regretted ever saying anything at all.

"Yes, I do. But I'm just a mere woman. Nothing I say can change anything." I said, trying to get out of this confrontation.

"Unless it is said to the right people. You don't take any of this lightly, that I can see, and that's admirable. Really, it is. Now I have a bone to pick with some other officers. Good night." He said and walked off.

"You're too strong-willed for your own good, you know." Gabriel said, teasing me.

"Yes, I'm aware. And that was just one example of how it can get me in trouble." I said as we started walking again.

When we got back to Aunt Charlotte's house, most everyone was already in bed so I stayed up for a little while longer with Thomas and Gabriel in the room they were sharing until they (teasingly) told me to get out.

"Sarah, come here." I heard my father say on the staircase.

"Yes?" I asked as I went down the stairs.

"Gabriel told me that you had a little bit of a confrontation with Colonel Burwell tonight?" he asked me once I was at the bottom of the stairs.

"Oh, yes. I just don't know when to keep my mouth shut is all. I won't let it happen again." I said, wondering if he was going to punish me in some way.

"There's no need to apologize, I'm proud of you for standing up for what you believe in. Most people would think it unwise for a woman to be so outspoken, but I think it's, what was it Colonel Burwell said, admirable?" he said with a small smile.

"Gabriel told you what was said word for word, didn't he?" I said with a sigh.

"Of course he did. Now go on to bed. You're coming to the Assembly meeting tomorrow, aren't you?" he said.

"Yes of course. Good night, Father." I said and started back upstairs.

"Good night." He said as I reached the landing.

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All right, I know it's kind of short, but I wanted to save the Assembly meeting and what happens after for a whole chapter of itself. Hope you liked it, I would love to hear what you think of this chapter! :)


	4. The Assembly Meeting

Hey guys! I can't decide if I want to do an actually "pairing" in this story, and if I did I have no idea with who. I would love to know what you all think about it! Anyway, here's chapter four! Enjoy!

Quick disclaimer, I own nothing but the character of Sarah. And I've tried to keep the dialogue from the movie as close as possible to what's in the movie, but it's not all word for word.

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The next morning I got up and as I was getting dressed, Aunt Charlotte came to see if she could help in any way. Unfortunately, she also brought a corset with her, which I usually didn't wear if I didn't have to. They make it very hard to get any work done since they're so tight (but somehow Abigaile could move as easily with one than without one. I'm not sure how she does it).

"Good morning, Sarah. Now I know you don't usually wear a corset, but I think today it would probably be a good idea with the Assembly meeting and everything." Aunt Charlotte said when she walked in.

"Do I really have to? I haven't worn one in years." I said as she made me put it on.

"I insist. Really you should've been wearing one since you were about fifteen, but since it wasn't ideal at the time, no one has seen to it that you wear one all the time." She said, beginning to lace up the corset.

"I hate these things." I said as it got tighter.

"I know you do, but like I said, I insist that you wear it. Besides, you might meet a nice young man today. You never know." Aunt Charlotte said and I knew she and Father had had a talk about me at some point.

I groaned in frustration and said, "Highly unlikely. I might as well never get married at this rate."

"You have to sometime. You know that." She said as she finished up tying the laces of the corset. "There, done. You didn't even complain at all. That's a first." She added, making me laugh. An hour later, me, Thomas, Gabriel, Father, and Aunt Charlotte were on our way to the Assembly Hall. We decided to walk since it wasn't very far and it was fairly nice outside. When we got there, there was still about an hour until the meeting actually started so we socialized for a little bit.

"Good morning, Miss Martin. I'm glad to see you came along with your father." I heard someone say behind me and turned to find Colonel Burwell.

"Good morning, Colonel. You knew I would be here." I said, a little confused.

"Yes, Gabriel said that you were both coming last night, but I know how women tend to change their minds about things." He said with a chuckle.

"Well I'll have you know that even if I had changed my mind, I'm sure my father would've dragged me here if he had to." I said, not appreciating the comment about women very much.

"No need to get angry, I'm just teasing you." The Colonel said lightly.

"If you don't mind me asking, Colonel, I've begun to wonder why exactly you've taken a sudden interest in me at all. It doesn't have anything to do with my father, does it?" I said.

"It does not, actually. Whatever it is you're talking about with your father, I have no idea if he's trying to do something or not. You forget that my wife and I visited frequently when you were a child." He said, assuming things.

"I have not forgotten about that and you know that. I think me and my parents all liked it very much when the two of you would visit since we don't really live in a town or anything. I know my mother was very fond of your wife and thought of her as a dear friend. All I'm trying to say is that if you know I just happen to be in relatively the same place as you, you always seem to find me even if it's just to say hello. Don't take any of what I've said the wrong way, I'm just merely curious since you haven't shown any kind of interest in getting to know me at all since I was thirteen but suddenly you do. It just confuses me is all." I said, trying not to get frustrated.

"Ah, yes. Well that is because I have found that you have many admirable qualities, and that little speech right there proves that. You're not like any woman I've ever known, even your mother wasn't as out spoken as you are. But I suppose you get it from your father, he was the same way at your age. Speaking of whom, I think I'll go find him and say hello. Good day, Miss Martin." The Colonel said and walked off before I could say anything else, making me frustrated again.

"Well that was quite a spectacle to see." I heard someone laugh from behind me and turned to find James Wilkins standing there.

"Good morning, Mr. Wilkins. Are you here to tease me as well?" I said, trying to contain my frustration.

"No, I'm not. I'm here to say good morning and ask how you are doing, though I can clearly see that you are rather frustrated right now if I do say so myself." He said, suppressing another laugh.

"Yes, obviously you can see that I'm frustrated right now." I said.

"Well I do hope your frustration goes away soon, Miss Martin. Good day." He said with a slight bow.

"Good day to you as well." I said, nodding slightly. When he walked away, my father came over to me.

"I see you've seen two men this morning." He said, choosing his words carefully with my frustration.

"Yes, neither of whom I care to see again today." I said, still not able to contain my frustration.

"Oh it wasn't that bad. In fact, I think Colonel Burwell is quite taken with you." Father said and I rolled my eyes.

"Well then I have some bad news for him. I'm not interested." I said, crossing my arms.

"Why not? He's a good man." Father said.

"While that may be true, and even with the fact that you would marry me off to him right now, I am not interested. For all I know I'll never marry." I said.

"Except at some point you must, you know that." Father said, trying to ease the tension in me.

"But do I really have to marry just because it's convenient? You know that's not what I want to do." I said, almost whining, which made my father laugh a little bit.

"You are so much like your mother. Surprisingly, she said almost the exact same thing to me right before I asked her to marry me. But anyway, let's go inside, the meeting's supposed to start soon." He said and I followed him inside and went to sit with Aunt Charlotte, Gabriel, and Thomas. Once the meeting started, it took a little while to get all of the men calmed down, but once they did Colonel Burwell stepped up to make his address. He saw me and sent a small smile my way before he spoke.

"You all know why I'm here. I'm not an orator and I would not try to convince you of the worthiness of our cause. I'm a soldier and we are at war. We expect a declaration of independence from Philadelphia. Eight of the thirteen colonies have levied money in support of a continental army. I as for South Carolina to be the ninth." The Colonel started, but was interrupted.

"Massachusetts and Virginia may be at war, but South Carolina is not!" the man that stood up said.

"This is not a war for the independence of one or two colonies. This is a war for the independence of a nation." Colonel Burwell said.

James Wilkins then stood up and scoffed, saying, "And what nation is that?"

Peter Howard then stood up and shouted, "An American nation!"

"There is no such nation and to speak of one is treason." James Wilkins then said calmly.

"We are citizens of an American nation, and our rights are being threatened by a tyrant three thousand miles away!" Mr. Howard shot back at Mr. Wilkins, which is where my father decided to put in his two cents.

"Tell me, Mr. Howard, why should I trade one tyrant three thousand miles away for three thousand tyrants one mile away?" he said, making many of the men in the room laugh. Then he continued, "An elected legislature could trample a man's rights as easily as a king can." To which some more men laughed.

"Captain Martin, I understood you to be a Patriot." Colonel Burwell said, to which my father answered, "If you mean Patriot by am I angry about taxation without representation, then yes I am. Should the colonies govern themselves independently? I think they can and they should. But if you're asking me if I'm willing to go to war with England, then the answer is most definitely no!"

Then the man that I knew as Mr. Middleton stood up and said, "This coming from the same man whose fury was so famous during the Wilderness Campaign?"

"I was intemperate in my youth." Father said.

"Temperance can be a convenient disguise for fear." Mr. Middleton answered.

"Mr. Middleton, I've fought with Captain Martin up in Washington in the French and Indian War. There isn't a single man in this room with who I would more willingly trust my life." Colonel Burwell said, earning a few "hear, hear"s.

"There are alternatives to war. We go before the King, we plead with him." Father said in a desperate attempt to make everyone see what he saw as reason.

"Yes we've tried that." Colonel Burwell said calmly.

"Well then we try again and again if necessary!" Father exclaimed.

"Benjamin, I was at Bunker Hill. The British advanced three times and we killed over seven hundred of them at point blank range and still they took the field. That is the measure of their resolve. If your principles dictate independence then war is the only way. It has come to that." Colonel Burwell said, a little more firmly this time.

"I have eight children, my wife is dead, who is to care for them if I go away to war?" Father said and I exchanged a look of almost what could be described as defeat with Aunt Charlotte.

"Wars are not fought only by childless men." Colonel Burwell said.

"Granted. But mark my words, this war not on the frontier or on some distant battle field, but amongst us, among our homes. Our children will learn of it with their own eyes and the innocent will die along with the rest of us. I will not fight. And because I will not fight I will not vote to have others fight in my stead." Father said, done with his little speech.

"Benjamin, what are your principles?" Colonel Burwell asked.

"I'm a parent, I haven't got the luxury of principles." Father said, sitting down, to which Gabriel walked out of the building. Thomas was going to go after him, but Aunt Charlotte stopped him. Then those of us that weren't of the Assembly were told to leave while the men voted. When we got outside I saw Gabriel pacing before the recruitment tables.

"Gabriel, why do you want to fight so badly?" I asked him.

"Because I want this country to be free just like everyone else, just like you. You just don't have the ability to fight." He said.

"I have the ability, just not the right. If going to war really is the only way to solve this, I would fight right alongside you if I could and you know that." I said.

"Well it's a good thing you don't have the right to fight. None of us would want to see you go to war." He said, then a boy ran out of the Assembly Hall to tell how the vote went.

"Twenty-eight to twelve, the levy passed!" he yelled, making everyone cheer and some people fire their pistols into the air. I stood close to where Gabriel was signing up to join the army when Father walked up to him.

"You intend to enlist without my permission?" I heard Father say.

"Yes I do." Gabriel said, firm in his decision, then continued, "Father, I thought you were a man of principle."

"When you have a family of your own I think you'll understand." Father said.

"When I have a family of my own, I won't hide behind him." Gabriel shot back and I knew that was a low blow.

I walked up next to Father and said, "Father, he'll be okay." Then Colonel Burwell walked up on his other side and said, "He's as imprudent as his father was at his age. I'll see to it that he serves under me. I'll make him a clerk or a quartermaster, something of that sort."

"Good luck." Father said and I snorted, trying not to laugh.

"Hello, Sarah. And what did you think of the happenings of the meeting?" Colonel Burwell then addressed me.

"I think men are idiots." I said truthfully, which made my father laugh.

"You know, I have the hardest time trying to decide if you're just like your father or your mother. I really can't decide." The Colonel said.

"Oh trust me, she's like her mother." Father said with a smile.

"Well, you would know, you've lived with them both." Colonel Burwell said, also smiling. Then turned to me again and said, "Could I come by and see you this afternoon, Sarah?"

Taken aback, I stuttered out, "Oh, um, well, I suppose so."

"Good. I'll see you then." Colonel Burwell said and walked away.

"Well would you look at that. My little girl's growing up. Finally being courted by a man, and it just has to be that one." Father said to me teasingly.

"Oh Father stop it." I said, still flustered.

"What was that all about?" Aunt Charlotte asked as we walked back towards her house.

"Nothing of importance. Oh, but I will be expecting company sometime this afternoon." I said.

"Oh? From who, might I ask?" she said, knowing exactly who from.

"If you must know, Colonel Burwell." I said, trying not to let her teasing get to me because I knew she didn't really mean anything by it.

"Lucky for you I had planned on taking everyone out somewhere this afternoon. You'll have the whole house to yourself." She said.

"Great, first you tease me, then you leave me at home alone." I said, making everyone laugh a little bit.

"Oh don't worry, I'll still be there." Father said, making me groan and put a hand up to my face, which made everyone else laugh again.

"Can I get out of this corset now?" I asked Aunt Charlotte when we got back to her house.

"No! Don't tell me you've forgotten about Colonel Burwell already?" she said as we walked up the stairs together.

"Of course I haven't. How could I with you people around? I just hate wearing it." I said.

"Well you'll have to stick it out for the rest of the day. Perhaps I'll let you borrow one of my dresses for this afternoon. I know just the one." She said and started off towards her bedroom. I followed her slowly.

"Here, this should be good enough." She said, handing me one of her dresses, which were considerably nicer than the one I had on.

"Do I really have to do this?" I asked.

"Yes. As your aunt, I will help you in whatever sort of situation you might be in with a man. And right now putting this dress on is the best thing I can think of for you right now." She said, ushering me into the bedroom I was staying in.

"All right I'll wear it. But can I wait to put it on after lunch? I wouldn't want to ruin it." I said, the last part a little too sweetly.

"Oh all right. Speaking of which, that should be ready soon." She said and we headed back downstairs into the dining room.

After lunch, Aunt Charlotte helped me change into the dress she picked out for me, then got everyone else ready to go walk around the city some, she even convinced Father to go with them. Once everyone was gone, it was very quiet in the house, so I went downstairs to the parlor to read before Colonel Burwell got there. About an hour and a half after everyone had left, there was a knock at the front door and one of the men that I assumed were slaves working for Aunt Charlotte opened the door, then came to find me.

"Miss Martin, Colonel Harry Burwell is here to see you." He said once he found me in the parlor.

"Yes, I was expecting him." I said with a smile and he let Colonel Burwell in.

"Hello Sarah. How have you been since the last time we saw each other?" he asked with a slight bow, then sat on the small couch beside me.

"I've been well. Father and Aunt Charlotte took everyone else out to walk around the city. How have you been?" I said cordially.

"Well. I noticed that the house seemed rather quiet when I came in. Even your father went? Somehow that surprises me." Colonel Burwell said.

"It surprised me too. It'll be good for him though I think. But Colonel-" I started, but Colonel Burwell cut me off.

"Call me Harry, please." He said.

"Okay, Harry, I'm going to ask you what I asked you this morning. Why have you taken this sudden interest in me?" I asked.

"Well, you're a grown woman now, not even seeing anyone so your father tells me, and I admire you, I really do. You've grown to be proud of who you are and in no way are you soft spoken in your opinions. Most women aren't like that, and I think that's what I like about you so much." He said, serious in his answer this time.

"Well, thank you. I believe you are very much the same way, but being a man makes that a lot easier for you to do. But I think you're the kind of man that would listen to someone like me, woman or not, and I think that's what I like about you so much, too." I said, which Colonel Burwell smiled at. We talked for a good long while, even until everyone else got home.

"Harry, it's good to see you again." Father said when he saw the Colonel was still there.

"Benjamin." He said, nodding.

"Well, I must get going." Colonel Burwell said and stood up, I stood up with him.

"Colonel, stay for dinner, please." Aunt Charlotte said, she had come in when my father had.

"No, no, I can't. I'm expected at the Middleton's for dinner." He said, then gave my father a look and he and Aunt Charlotte left the room.

"It was good to see you again, Colonel. And I do hope you'll be careful while fighting for the independence of this country." I said when he turned towards me.

"As I keep telling you, please call me Harry. I don't see the need for formalities. Would it be all right if I wrote to you some while I'm away at war?" he said.

"Of course." I said.

He smiled and said, "Good night, Sarah. I hope to see you tomorrow sometime?"

"Perhaps." I said, smiling. "Good night, Harry." Then he surprised me by kissing me on the cheek before he left. Once he was gone, Aunt Charlotte came rushing in. "So how was it?" she asked and I proceeded to tell her how the visit from Colonel Burwell went and that night I fell asleep with a smile on my face. That had been a good day indeed.

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Whew. That was a lot longer than I thought it would be, but, even though it's just the fourth chapter, I think it was an important one. Let me know what you thought about it!


	5. Happenings in Charles Town

Woo! Chapter 5! I just wanted to thank LoverOfTheMusic for their awesome review that completely made my day when I saw it! Well here you go, enjoy! :)

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We stayed in Charles Town for a couple more days, and each day Colonel Burwell came to see me in the afternoon at Aunt Charlotte's house. Sometimes we would just sit and talk and other times we would walk around the city together. On the last day my family was in Charles Town, Colonel Burwell came right after lunch and we walked around Charles Town almost all afternoon.

"Sarah, Colonel Burwell is here." Aunt Charlotte shouted to me from downstairs. I put the book I was reading down and went over to a full length mirror to make sure I looked all right, then hurried downstairs.

"Hello, Sarah." Colonel Burwell said as I walked down the last few stairs.

"Hello, Harry. How are you?" I said when I was next to him.

"I'm well, thank you. How about we walk some today?" He said.

"All right. Just let me go tell my father really quick." I said and went to find my father.

"Father, I'm going to go on a walk with Colonel Burwell today." I said once I found him.

"All right, just be back for dinner. Oh, and insist that he stay for dinner, too." My father said. I told him I would and went back to Colonel Burwell.

"Okay, let's go." I said with a smile and we went out to walk around the city.

"You all are leaving tomorrow?" he asked me as we walked.

"Yes, we're leaving first thing in the morning. I'm worried about Gabriel, though." I said.

"Don't worry too much about your brother, I'll make sure he's all right." Colonel Burwell said comfortingly.

"Thank you, Harry. I wish he wouldn't go, but he's as stubborn as my father is, there's no stopping him." I said.

"I can see that. Reminds me of someone else, too." He said with a small smile.

"And who would that be?" I asked, knowing exactly what he was going to say.

"Well, you of course." He said, smiling.

"Oh, right. I do tend to be fairly stubborn, don't I?" I said, also smiling.

"More so than any woman I've ever known." He said and I pushed him lightly, making him laugh. We walked around a while longer and right before dinner time he walked me back to Aunt Charlotte's house.

"Well, I suppose this will be the last time I see you for a while." He said at Aunt Charlotte's door.

"Yes, I suppose so." I said, looking down slightly.

"I'll be sure to write you once we're stationed. Good night, Sarah." He said.

"Oh, stay for dinner. I insist." I said before he could leave.

"Well, I suppose I could." He said with a smile and we went into the house.

"Father, I'm back." I said when I saw him in the parlor with Aunt Charlotte.

"Good. Hello, Harry. Would you stay for dinner?" Father said, putting down whatever it was he was doing.

"Yes, I suppose I could." Colonel Burwell said.

"I'll go make sure there's an extra place set out." Aunt Charlotte said and went to the dining room. I felt very awkward just standing there, my father staring at me and Colonel Burwell.

"Well, let's go see if everything's ready yet. Sarah, will you go get your brothers and sisters?" Father said, standing up.

"Of course." I said and went upstairs to find everyone and tell them to go downstairs for dinner. I found everyone standing on the first landing.

"Well that was easy." I mumbled to myself.

"Colonel Burwell is staying for dinner?" Gabriel asked when he saw me.

"Yes, now come on, I think everything's about ready." I said and everyone hurried past me to get downstairs. When I got to the dining room, the only spot open at the table was between Gabriel and Colonel Burwell, making me groan inwardly because I knew Gabriel would be talking across me the whole time, but I sat there anyway. The whole time during dinner, Gabriel did in fact talk across me to Colonel Burwell, asking all sorts of questions about what was going to be done since the war was official and everything, but eventually it got really annoying.

"Gabriel. Do you think you could refrain from talking across me for five minutes?" I said, trying not to get too angry. The whole table went silent and everyone was staring at me for a moment before going back to eating and Gabriel was quiet the rest of the time. After dinner, all of the younger children were put to bed and I sat with Aunt Charlotte near the window in the parlor while Father, Gabriel, Thomas and Colonel Burwell sat in various chairs, talking about the war some more.

"I wish they would talk about something other than the war." I said quietly to Aunt Charlotte.

"So do I. But men will be men I suppose." She said and we both laughed.

"Something funny?" Father asked when he heard us laughing.

"Nothing. We're just chatting." Aunt Charlotte said and Father rolled his eyes.

"Well, I should be going. Sarah told me you all are leaving first thing in the morning." Colonel Burwell said and stood up.

"Yes we are. Let me show you to the door." Father said, also standing up.

"I can do it, Father." I said, standing, and he nodded at me. I walked with Colonel Burwell to the door, opened it, then turned to tell him good-bye.

"It was good seeing you, Sarah." He said.

"It was good to see you as well." I said.

"Don't forget about me, all right?" he said, putting a hand up to my face.

"I couldn't even if I wanted to. Not with my father around, anyway." I said and he laughed.

"Yes, of course." He said, still smiling. "I hope to see you sooner than later. Good night, Sarah."

"Good night, Harry." I said and he kissed me on the cheek like he did everyday and started out the door, but halfway out he stopped and turned, coming back toward me, and wrapped his arms around my waist in a hug.

"I'll miss seeing you everyday." He said quietly.

"Me too." I said. "Don't forget to write."

"Of course not." He said, then left and I walked back into the parlor and sat beside Aunt Charlotte again, a small smile on my face.

"You look happy." Aunt Charlotte said as I sat down.

"Maybe a little too happy." Father said, concern in his voice. I chose not to comment and decided to go to bed.

The next morning we all woke up very early to head back home, and within a week Gabriel was gone to join up with the army as they passed through. And of course with the army passing through, that meant Colonel Burwell would be passing through as well.

"Well don't you look nice." I said from behind Gabriel before he left.

"Would you like to join me and Father into town? Colonel Burwell should be there." Gabriel said.

"I think I will." I said, then Father came in.

"Are you ready to go, Gabriel?" he said.

"Yes. And I believe Sarah would like to join us as well." Gabriel said, looking over at me.

"Of course. Colonel Burwell will be there, and I'm sure you would like to see him again?" Father said to me.

"It would be nice to see him again, yes." I said.

"Okay. Then let's get going." Father said and the three of us went out to the wagon and headed towards town. When we got to town, the soldiers were all just walking around, saying hello to anyone they knew. I spotted Colonel Burwell instantly and was eager to say hello to him. When Father stopped the horses, I didn't wait for he or Gabriel to come help me down and just jumped down by myself. As I walked toward Colonel Burwell, he saw me and met me halfway.

"Hello, Sarah. I didn't expect to see you." He said, taking both of my hands in his.

"Well I thought while you were passing through, I'd come along with Gabriel and Father and say hello." I said with a smile.

"I'm glad you did." He said, also smiling. "Walk with me?" he said, holding out his arm and I took it, letting him lead me around the small town as we talked.

"When will you all be moving out?" I asked as we walked.

"In a couple of hours. We just have to wait for everyone to be ready to go." He said a little glumly.

"Look after my brother, would you?" I said.

"As much as I can. Of course." He said as we approached where Gabriel and Father were standing.

"Corporal, be ready to move out in the next couple of hours." He said to Gabriel when we reached them.

"Yes, sir." Gabriel said, standing up a little straighter.

"Good. Well, I have other duties to do before we leave. Benjamin, Sarah, good day." Colonel Burwell said.

"Sarah, I'll be waiting at the wagon." Father said, shaking hands with Colonel Burwell.

"All right, I'll be there soon." I said as he walked away, Gabriel going with him so I could be alone with Colonel Burwell.

"Do be careful out there, Harry." I said quietly, standing close to him.

"Of course. Don't worry about me. If anything at all happens, write to me as soon as possible. Especially if anything happens involving redcoats." He said.

"Okay. You don't forget to write, either." I said.

"Of course. Hopefully I'll see you soon. I have other things I need to go do now. Good-bye, Sarah." He said.

"Good-bye, Harry." I said and instead of kissing my cheek, he opted to kiss both of my hands and hugged me like he had in Charles Town.

"Ready to head back home?" Father said, helping me into the wagon.

"Yes. I hope both of them will be okay." I said.

"They will, I'm sure of it." Father said and we started back towards home.

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It's a little shorter than the last one, but don't worry! The next one will be longer, I promise! Let me know what you thought about this! (Particularly things between Sarah and Colonel Burwell) Thanks! :)


	6. The First Encounter With The Butcher

And here's chapter 6! I just want to thank LoverOfTheMusic for helping me with some of the ideas for this chapter! Enjoy! :)

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The next two years went by without anything from the war affecting us. We all got letters from Gabriel and Colonel Burwell wrote to me at least once a week. He tried not to say much about war, just telling me where they would be (if he could) and tell me how he was doing, but there were a few letters that were fairly gruesome, but I didn't mind because I knew that there wasn't really anyone else he could say anything to about how the war was affecting him and I knew that if I needed to say anything to him of a similar nature, he would listen. But then one day we could hear the beginnings of a battle off in the distance. That same day, we got a letter from Gabriel telling us about the war and that his good friend Peter Cuppin fell at Elizabethtown and that soon they would begin to march back south. That night at dinner, everyone but Father was sitting down ready to eat, but we saw him come out on the porch and went out there with him.

"Six pounders. Lots of them." He said when all of us but Thomas were on the porch.

"How far away?" Samuel asked.

"Oh, they're a long way off. They're most likely headed in the other direction." Father said, trying to reassure the younger ones, but I knew better. Then Thomas came out with two guns, handing one to Nathan.

"Thomas, put those in the house." Father said.

"But Father, they might come this way!" Thomas tried to argue.

"Thomas, must I tell you again?" Father said and Thomas went and put the guns back in the house.

"Let's all stay close into the house tonight, all right?" he then said and we all went back inside, Thomas staying in his room while we were all getting ready for dinner. After a while, we heard Father cock back a gun and say "Slowly turn." To someone in the hallway. The man turned and Father hurried to him so he wouldn't fall down and we all knew then that it was Gabriel and we all rushed into the hallway.

"Abigaile, get water and bandages fast!" Father called, taking Gabriel into the parlor and laying him down so Father could look at his wound and Abigaile hurried to get some water and bandages. Thomas came downstairs to be annoying and when Abigaile came back, Father asked her to get the children out of the room, but I stayed to help Father clean and dress Gabriel's wound.

"Gates pushed us straight to the redcoats, the lines broke, then the Green Dragoons cut us to bits. I was carrying these dispatches. As I left, I saw the Virginia regulars trying to fight them off, but the Dragoons rode into them, killed them all. Over two hundred men." Gabriel told us what happened, then tried to get up saying, "I have to get these dispatches to Hillsboro."

"You're in no condition to ride." Father said, pushing him back down.

"I can't stay here, it's not safe." Gabriel gasped out.

"Gabriel, you can't go anywhere tonight. You'd pass out before you got a hundred feet." I said, then we could hear gunshots a lot closer to the house and Father went out onto the porch. I watched from the front window and could see guns being fired and men running, then some redcoats were lined up, firing at the retreating colonials. I moved away from the window and began to clean up Gabriel's wound until Father came back in.

"This might sting a little bit." I warned Gabriel before I began, then as I was working on it said, "Oh good, it isn't as deep as it looked. It is still kind of deep, though."

"Sarah, in the dispatches, there's a letter for you, from Colonel Burwell." Gabriel said and I went over the leather pouch and pulled everything out, finding the letter addressed to me.

"Do you mind if I read it right now?" I asked Gabriel, not sure if I should continue treating his wound.

"Of course, Father can take care of this." He said, referring to his wound.

"Okay, thank you." I said, sitting down to read the letter.

_Dear Sarah,_

_ I hope this letter finds you in good health. I sent it with Gabriel because I knew if anything happened to him, he would go back home. I have no hope for this war anymore. We lose every battle we're in. The British are ruthless, especially the Dragoons. Their leader has earned himself the nickname "The Butcher" because he kills anyone that causes him any trouble, even civilians. I hope you never have to see this man. We are on the move towards Charles Town again right now, and if there's ever a break in this fighting I would like to see you again. I'm not sure if we'll be going by where you are or not, but if we do I will let you know as soon as we get there. I must got now, we are about to move out again._

_ Admirably yours,_

_ Col. Harry Burwell_

"Sarah, I can take it from here. Go on to bed, I think we have a long day ahead of us tomorrow." Father said when he came back in and I headed upstairs to go to bed, but I couldn't sleep for a couple of hours and just stared at the ceiling until I fell asleep. The next morning, Father woke me, Thomas, and Nathan up early to help get the wounded men from the battle last night to the house so we could treat their wounds. It took a couple of hours to get all of the soldiers up to the house, and there were a lot of wounds that I wasn't sure if we would be able to do anything for them. I worked mainly with the Continental Army, letting my father take care of the redcoats, then I saw Gabriel come out of the house, and as he did we both looked out over the fields in front of the house and saw a whole regiment of redcoats coming towards the house and I gave Gabriel a worried look. The leader of that particular group came up on the porch and said to Father, "Thank you for the care of his Majesty's soldiers." And that was when my worst nightmare came true. We heard horse hooves beating on the ground furiously, coming towards the house and it was the Dragoons I'd heard so much about and even the redcoat on the porch seemed frightened.

"Lieutenant, have a detachment take our wounded to the surgeons at Winnsboro." The leader of the Dragoons said, then said, "Fire the house and barns. Let it be known that if you harbor the enemy you will lose your home." Then he addressed the freed slaves that worked the land around us, insulting them with mention of fighting for England.

"Rebel dispatches, sir." A redcoat said, taking the dispatches Gabriel had been carrying to the Dragoon leader.

"Gabriel, who is that?" I asked him quietly as the man looked over the dispatches.

"Colonel William Tavington. Or The Butcher if you prefer nicknames." Gabriel said quietly.

"Harry told me about him in his letter." I said.

"Who carried this?" Tavington asked the Lieutenant and when he couldn't give an answer, shouted, "Who carried this!?"

"I did, sir." Gabriel said, stepping forward. I tried to stop him, but to no avail. "I was wounded and these people gave me care. They have nothing to do with the dispatches." He continued.

"Take this one to Camden, as a spy. Hang him, put his body on display." Tavington said calmly.

"He's a dispatch rider and that's a marked case." Father tried in defense of Gabriel.

"Destroy the livestock. Save the horses for the Dragoons." Tavington told his men as if my Father hadn't said anything at all.

"Colonel, this is a uniformed dispatch rider carrying a marked case. You cannot hold him as a spy." Father said, walking over to Tavington.

"We're not going to hold him. We're going to hang him." Tavington said, a little too cheerily.

"Colonel-" Father started, but Gabriel cut him off.

"Oh I see. He's your son. Well perhaps you should've taught him something of loyalty." Tavington said.

"Colonel, I beg that you please reconsider. By the rules of war-" Father started and this time Tavington cut him.

"The rules of war. Would you like a lesson, sir, in the rules of war?" Tavington said angrily, pointing his pistol at Father. Then he said, "Or perhaps your children would." And turned his gun towards all of us on the porch. I quickly pushed Susan, William, and Margaret behind me. Then Father ran out in front of us.

"None of this is necessary." Father said desperately.

"Sir, what of the rebel wounded?" the Lieutenant from earlier asked Tavington.

"Kill them." Tavington said simply, and I could tell by the look on the Lieutenant's face that he wasn't very keen on that idea.

"Father, do something!" Thomas said as they started to take Gabriel away.

"You be quiet." He said, coming over to where I was standing next to Abigaile. Everything that happened next all seemed to happen in slow motion. Because Father wouldn't do anything, Thomas decided to run out and try to free Gabriel. I saw him before Father did and went after him.

"Gabriel, run!" Thomas said, knocking over the two redcoats tying Gabriel up. I heard a gun being cocked back and was afraid I wouldn't get to Thomas in time.

"Thomas!" I yelled behind him, and right as I got to him, a gun went off and I was sure Thomas was going to get killed. What I didn't expect was to feel the sting of a bullet go straight through the top of my right shoulder. The pain was unlike anything I had ever felt before. I screamed as I fell to the ground and I was sure I would black out at some point from the pain.

"Sarah! No!" I heard Thomas yell above me and I felt him catch me before I hit the ground and I could hear who I assumed was my father running towards us.

"Oh god, no! Sarah! Stay with me!" Father said, taking me from Thomas.

"I'll be okay. Promise." I said quietly before I blacked out. When I woke up, it was beginning to get dark and I was laying in my brother's (Thomas) arms in the same spot as when I got shot and when I lifted my head I could see Susan, Margaret, and William sitting on the stairs of what used to be our house.

"What happened?" I asked, trying to get up, but Thomas made me stay down.

"Don't get up. You got shot. Because you're stupid. You're the most stupid and wonderful sister I could ever ask for." Thomas said, hugging me the best he could, and he was actually about to cry.

"Well that explains why my shoulder hurts." I said, making a face, then we heard a wagon coming up, and it was Father with Samuel, Nathan, and Gabriel.

"Sarah, how are you feeling?" Father asked when he came over to me.

"It hurts." I said, like I was a little girl again.

"I know, I know. Do you think you can stand?" he said.

"I can try." I said and Father and Thomas began to help me try to stand up. "No, no. I can't." I said with a pained expression.

"All right. Gabriel, do you think you can carry her?" Father said to Gabriel.

"Of course." Gabriel said, and came over to pick me up.

"Careful." I said, very aware of the gunshot wound that was starting to hurt even more again.

"Sit her up in the back of this wagon." Father said as Gabriel walked towards the wagon and sat me in it, then sat beside me.

"Where will we go now?" I asked, gazing at what was left of the house sadly.

"Your Aunt Charlotte's. Let's go." Father said, helping everyone else get in the back of the wagon.

We pulled up to Aunt Charlotte's house right before it got completely dark outside.

"What happened?" she said as she ran towards us.

"Redcoats and Dragoons. We need to get Sarah into the house as quickly as possible." Father said as he helped everyone else out of the wagon before Gabriel got out, then picked me up to carry me into the house.

"Oh my god. Tell me everything that happened." Aunt Charlotte said to Father as we all started towards the house. Thankfully, Aunt Charlotte's plantation was closer than her home in Charles Town. Gabriel set me down in an upstairs bedroom and Father told Aunt Charlotte everything that happened while they got me out of my blood-stained clothes and began treating my wound.

"I'll bring some dinner up for you." Aunt Charlotte said as they finished dressing my wound.

"Thank you." I said as Father helped me sit up.

Soon, instead of Aunt Charlotte bringing me some food, Thomas came up instead and even brought his plate up to eat with me.

"I thought, if it's okay with you, that I would come up and eat with you." He said, sitting on the side of my bed.

"Okay." I said and since I felt better, I scooted over so Thomas could sit beside me.

"I don't think I could ever thank you enough for what you did today. I wouldn't be here right now if it weren't for you." Thomas said once he was settled beside me.

"I just didn't want anything to happen to you. What happened after I blacked out?" I said.

"Father took Samuel and Nathan out in the woods and went after the redcoats that had Gabriel. That's how he got that wagon." Thomas said as we ate.

"Anything else?" I asked.

"No, not really. We all just sat there until they got back." He said.

"Why didn't you go with Father to get Gabriel?" I asked.

"I needed to make sure you were going to be okay. I wasn't going to leave you there without knowing if you were okay or not." He said.

"Thank you." I said and we ate the rest of our meal in silence. When we were done, Thomas took everything back downstairs and Aunt Charlotte came up to see how I was doing.

"How are you feeling, Sarah?" she said when she came in my room.

"Fine. But I would feel a lot better if I could write to Colonel Burwell." I said.

"Could it not wait until tomorrow?" Aunt Charlotte asked.

"I want it to go out tonight, if at all possible." I said.

"All right, here I'll help you get over to the desk." She said and helped me stand up and walk over to the desk in the corner of the room. I wasn't sure how to start the letter without alarming him with everything that happened, so I decided just to tell him everything how it happened.

_Dear Harry,_

_ Please don't be alarmed with what I'm about to tell you. My family had a run-in with some redcoats today, in particular the Green Dragoons and that Tavington. He really is a horrible man. We're staying with my Aunt Charlotte at her plantation on the Santee for the time being, since we now have no home of our own. There was a small battle outside of our house the other night, and the next day we brought the wounded up to the house and cared for them, until the British showed up. It really wasn't too bad at first, the Lieutenant there was actually quite nice, but then the Dragoons showed up. Tavington ordered for the house and barns to be burned down, along with the livestock to be destroyed, except for the horses, of course. They were to be saved for the Dragoons. They found the dispatches Gabriel had been carrying (he showed up the night before) and when he said that he carried them Tavington ordered that he be taken to Camden and hanged as a spy. Two redcoats began to tie Gabriel to the back of a wagon and then, of course, Thomas had to get involved. He ran at the redcoats to try and help Gabriel escape, but I knew something bad would happen so I went after him. I heard Tavington ready his pistol, but it didn't register in my brain what was happening until he had made the shot. I was beside Thomas at that point and pushed him aside, if I hadn't he would probably be dead right now. Don't worry about me, I just have a small wound in my right shoulder, it really isn't a big deal. I do wish that I could see you, though. I never knew a bullet wound could hurt so much. I blacked out after I was shot and had no idea what had happened until Thomas told me tonight. Like I said, please don't worry about me, I'm going to be just fine, I promise. Be careful, and I hope see you soon._

_ I am and will remain affectionately yours,_

_ Sarah Martin_

"Aunt Charlotte, is there anyone that could get this out tonight?" I asked her as I folded the letter and sealed it with some wax.

"Of course. I think that his camp is actually not far from here. I'll have it sent out as soon as possible." She said, helping me back to the bed, then took the letter downstairs to have it sent out that night. That night, I slept very well knowing that Harry would get my letter soon.

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Another long chapter! Hope you don't mind haha. I would love to know what you all think about it. Thanks! :)


	7. An Unexpected Visit

And chapter 7! Wow I've posted a lot today haha. I think there are going to be some fairly interesting things in this particular chapter. Enjoy!

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The next morning, everyone had agreed to let me sleep in more than usual with everything that had happened the day before, but at what I estimated to be about nine o'clock in the morning, there was a very firm knock on my door. I had been awake for about thirty minutes by then, but was very confused at who would be knocking at my door at that time of the morning.

"Come in." I said, still trying to think of who it could possibly be. I knew if it was one of my brothers or sisters or Aunt Charlotte they would just knock and come straight in without waiting for an answer from me, which this person had done. I was very surprised when Colonel Burwell came rushing in.

"Colonel! What in the world are you doing here?" I said, rather flustered at his hurried entrance and completely forgetting about the no formalities part.

"May I sit?" he asked me in a hurried tone.

"Yes, of course." I said, moving over a little bit so he could sit on the edge of the bed, getting more and more confused about him being there.

"I needed to make sure for myself that you were all right. When I got that letter…" he started, but had to pause to compose himself a little. Once he had taken a few deep breaths, he continued. "You have no idea how much that letter scared me. Not knowing what might happen to you, it scares me. A lot. If I thought for a moment I might lose you…" He said, having to stop again to take a deep breath.

"But why? I told you not to worry and that I'm fine, as you can now see." I said, still really confused about this whole thing.

"Yes, I know. But the thought that I could've lost you … I couldn't bear to think about that." He said, starting to scare me a little bit now.

"But now you see there's nothing to worry about, I'm fine." I said, trying to be reassuring.

"And you have no idea how happy it makes me to see that you're okay." He said, smiling and I smiled back at him.

"Colonel, do you think you could leave us for a moment? I've come to help her get dressed." Aunt Charlotte said at my doorway.

"Yes, of course." He said and walked out of the room.

Aunt Charlotte closed the door behind him and came over to me. "Good Lord, that man astounds me sometimes." She said, helping me stand up.

"How so? And I think I want to try walking on my own today. It is just a shoulder wound, after all." I said.

"Of course. But really, you should've seen him when he got here." She said as we slowly walked across the room together.

"How long has he been here?" I said, stopping short.

"A few hours. It was probably five in the morning when he got here, I honestly don't know. Thankfully your father was already up at that time. Actually I'm not even sure if he slept at all last night." She said, surprising me.

"Wow. I don't really know what to say. I didn't realize he cared for me so much." I said as Aunt Charlotte helped me out of my night gown.

"Well, it seems that he does. It honestly surprised me too. And I have no idea when he got that letter." She said as I stepped into my shift and she pulled a dress from the closet for me to wear. But then we ran into a slight problem with tying the back of the dress with the dressings over my wound.

"Hm, this may be a problem." Aunt Charlotte said behind me.

"What?" I said, thinking something was seriously wrong.

"This dress won't lace up properly because of this." She said, lightly touching the bandages.

"Hmmmm, well the bandages do need to be changed." I said trying to look at them.

"I thought as much. And I know just the person to do it." Aunt Charlotte said with a mischievous smile and I knew exactly what she was up to. She walked back over to the door, knowing Colonel Burwell would be standing on the other side of the door, waiting. "Ah, Colonel. Good. I was wondering if you could help with something? Her bandages need to be changed and I'm really just not very good at it yet." She said and I knew she was lying because she had bandaged up my shoulder perfectly last night. Though now of course it didn't look very good because I had slept on it.

"Oh, um, of course." He said and walked back into the room while Aunt Charlotte went to get fresh bandages. I pulled the right sleeve of my dress down as far as I could to make it as easy as possible for the bandages to be changed.

"Here we are." Aunt Charlotte said when she walked back into the room with fresh bandages and some water.

"Thank you, Aunt Charlotte." I said with a smile.

"Of course, dear. I'll leave you to it then." She said and left the room.

"Who put these on last night?" Colonel Burwell asked as he started pulling them off, making me wince a little bit.

"Aunt Charlotte. But she isn't very good at this yet. Right." I scoffed slightly, making Colonel Burwell laugh.

"She did a fine job. It's as if she and your father think we don't know what they're trying to do." He said, unwrapping the last bit of bandages. I heard him give a small gasp when he saw my wound.

"Really, it's not as bad as it looks." I said quietly, but when he began to clean the wound again, pulling back from it because of the sting didn't help my argument at all.

"Does it hurt much?" he asked me grimly. I just nodded, tears forming in my eyes. I knew from that point on that I wouldn't wish that much pain on my worst enemy. I had broken and sprained a few things in my now twenty-eight years, but this pain was worse than all of that combined and I struggled to hold back the tears. I knew Colonel Burwell had noticed the tears forming in my eyes, but he chose not to comment on it and focused on the task at hand.

"There, all finished." He said once he had tightly wrapped the wound in bandages, a little tighter than Aunt Charlotte had.

"I see you've finished." Aunt Charlotte said, I had seen her about to walk across my doorway and caught her eye before she went past.

"Yes, it should be fine for a few hours now." Colonel Burwell said as I pulled up the sleeve of my dress. "I'll leave you ladies to it." He said, but I grabbed his hand before he could walk away.

"No, stay. Please." I said quietly, Aunt Charlotte already beginning to lace up the back of the dress and I knew as it got tighter it would start to hurt. He just nodded and sat in a chair beside me, clasping my hand in both of his. When Aunt Charlotte was done lacing up my dress, she left so me and Colonel Burwell could talk.

"You're sure you'll be okay?" he asked as I finally let one tear slide down my face. I just nodded, looking down. He put his hand on my cheek, wiping the tear off my face, and made me look at him.

"I know physically you'll be okay. I mean emotionally. I know this had to be rather traumatizing for you." He said with concern. This time, I shook my head no and the tears began to flow down my cheeks. He helped me get back over to the bed and we sat on the edge, his arm around me and mumbling comforting things in my ear as I cried. He held me like that until I stopped crying a good twenty minutes later.

"I'm sorry, Harry." I said, wiping the tears of my face.

"Whatever for?" He asked.

"For all of this. You know I'm not the kind of girl that usually cries." I said.

"Well, honestly, I would be more worried if you didn't cry after everything that happened yesterday." He said, putting his hand on my cheek again, and I smiled a little.

"Thank you." I said quietly.

"Sarah, can I ask you something?" he said and I nodded for him to continue, "Do you see anything more happening between us?"

His question caught me off guard, but I stuttered out an answer, "Oh, um, well, I suppose so. I know it would make my father happy." I said.

"Yes, but would it make you happy?" he asked me earnestly.

"I suppose so. But, I … What are you trying to get at with this, Harry?" I asked curiously.

"I don't have to tell you how exactly I feel about you, do I?" he said.

"No, I think I can see that clearly." I said.

"Good." He said, then what he did next was completely unexpected and I think he even surprised himself with it. He kissed me, but not just on the cheek this time, full on the lips. I was so surprised I didn't know what to do, and he was about to pull back right as I began to kiss him back. It wasn't a very long kiss, but it was the best one I'd ever had in my whole life. I knew I had a very surprised look on my face when he pulled away from me because he apologized.

"No, don't apologize. You have nothing to apologize for." I said, which made him smile.

"I don't know if you've noticed, but this house has been very quiet since your Aunt Charlotte left this room." He then said.

"I have noticed." I said and slowly walked toward the window that faced the front of the house, then when I saw everyone outside said, "And that would be because everyone else is outside."

"It seems they are. How about we go and join them?" he said from behind me.

"Oh, I'm not even sure if I could make it down the stairs, much less outside." I said, still very aware of the sharp pain in my right shoulder.

"Don't worry about that. I'll be right here if you need me." He said.

"Well, all right. It does seem to be very nice out today." I said and we started to make our way outside. The stairs did prove to be a slight problem, since then were so steep, and with the pain in my shoulder, looking down like that made me very nauseated.

"I need to rest a minute." I said when we were about halfway down the stairs and I looked up, trying to make myself breathe deeper so I wouldn't throw up.

"I could carry you the rest of the way if you'd like." Colonel Burwell said.

"No, no. I'll be okay." I said and slowly began to walk down the stairs again. At one point I tripped and hit my right shoulder on the railing, causing me to make a small noise of pain, but Colonel Burwell was there to catch me.

"I think I should sit down." I said once we reached the bottom of the stairs and he helped me sit on the stairs behind me, sitting beside me. It was rather cozy on the narrow staircase with his broad shoulders and my more than average size (height wise, anyway).

"Colonel, you really are a wonderful man." I said after a few moments of silence.

"Oh, I don't know if I would say that." He said sheepishly.

"You don't give yourself enough credit. You are a great man and anyone that denies that is a fool." I said.

"Well, thank you, Sarah. I was going to compliment you as well, but I can't find the right words for how absolutely wonderful you are." He said, making me blush a little.

"Well, how about we head on outside?" I said, my face still red.

"Of course." He said and helped me up and outside.

"Sarah, I didn't expect you to come down so quickly." Aunt Charlotte said as I walked out onto the porch. Then I heard a chorus of "Sarah!"s and knew all of my siblings would be barreling towards me.

"Stop right there!" I said as they all reached the bottom of the steps and they stopped abruptly, confused. "I will allow you all to swarm me, I expected it, but you must be careful. Even just coming down the stairs was a chore in and of itself." I said then they all just walked up on the porch, then all hugged me at once. "All right, go on and keep doing whatever it was you were doing." I said, shooing them all off the porch. Me and Colonel Burwell stayed outside for a while talking to my father and Aunt Charlotte until my father noticed I wasn't looking too good.

"Sarah, why don't you go back in the house? You don't look well." Father said with concern.

"I am feeling a little off. I think I'll go back to bed for a bit." I said and Colonel Burwell helped me get back inside. When we got to the stairs I looked up at them apprehensively. As I was looking, Colonel Burwell surprised me and swooped me up into his arms before I could say anything and carried me upstairs.

"Thank you, Harry." I said as he set me on the edge of the bed and I moved over so he could sit with me.

"Of course. You're sure you're going to be okay?" he asked me for the second time that day.

"Yes, I'm just feeling a little off right now for some reason. Perhaps a nap will help." I said.

"All right, I'll leave you alone then." He said and got up to leave, but before he left the room, he turned around and came back to kiss me again, much longer this time than the first one and I fell asleep for my short nap before lunch a very happy girl.

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So what did you think? I would love to hear what you thought about what happened with Burwell and Sarah! Thanks!


	8. Tension

Hey guys! I am so sorry it took this long to update, we had a bad storm Thursday night and our cats outside had kittens where it floods under our porch, so I've been really busy taking care of them. There's only one left now of the six that were under the porch, but I'm pretty sure this one will be completely fine. I might try to put some pictures up of him! Here's chapter 8 finally! Enjoy! :)

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Around lunchtime, Aunt Charlotte came in and woke me up, carrying a tray of food.

"Here you go." She said as I sat up, setting the tray in front of me.

"Thank you." I said. "Where's Harry?" I asked before she left the room.

"Downstairs talking to your father. He just got back from moving hi men closer to the house. Even if the British come, they're close enough that they could be here in minutes, but they're far enough away that you can't see them from the house. I think Colonel Burwell is going to stay in the house for a few days to keep an eye on you. I wouldn't let go of him if I were you." She said and walked out of the room.

After I was done eating, my father came up to see how I was doing.

"Hey, I just wanted to come see how you were doing." He said from the doorway.

"I feel fine." I said with a smile as he walked over to my bed and sat on the edge.

"You know, Harry got here at about two thirty last night. He said he got your letter around midnight and rode out as soon as he could. When he got here he sent out a letter to his second in command to have the men move closer to the house as soon as possible. He met up with them after you fell asleep earlier and helped them set up camp not too far away." Father told me.

"He was here that early!?" I said, flabbergasted.

"I was surprised as well. It seems that he cares for you more than anyone knew." Father said.

"I had no idea." I said, then there was a light knock on the open door and Colonel Burwell was standing there.

"Hello, Harry." I said with a smile.

"I think I'll go take this downstairs." Father said and took the tray Aunt Charlotte had brought up, nodding to Colonel Burwell as he passed him.

"How are you feeling?" he asked as he sat on the edge of the bed.

"Better." I said reassuringly.

"Good, good." He said quietly.

"Harry, can I ask you something?" I said.

"Of course." He said, finally looking at me.

"What exactly did you mean this morning when you said you couldn't bear to think about losing me?" I asked.

"Well, as you know, I lost my wife and son almost four years ago now, and, well, I don't think I could handle losing someone else that I … Love." He said slowly. My eyes went wide at that and I didn't know what to say, so he continued speaking. "I'll understand if you don't feel the same way…" he said forlornly.

I let out a breath I hadn't realized I was holding and said, "I don't know what to say."

"Well, I have some business I must attend to." He said after a moment, standing up, and I could see pain in his eyes.

"No, don't go." I said when he reached door.

"You should rest." He said sadly and left the room.

After he left, I groaned and said to myself, "Sarah, what have you done now?"

At that point, I knew I had to do something. I sat there for a moment, trying to think of what to do, but I couldn't think of a good, solid plan so I decided to just go for it. I slowly, but determinedly, stood up and made my way towards the stairs.

"Sarah, do you need any help?" Thomas asked me, approaching the stairs the same time I did.

"No, no. You go ahead." I said quickly and watched Thomas go down the stairs and out the front door before I started down the stairs. It was a slow process, but I eventually got downstairs and began looking for Colonel Burwell. I eventually found him out on the back porch talking to Father.

"Sarah. What are –" Father started, standing up, but I cut him off.

"Could you give us a moment, Father?" I said, and Colonel Burwell stood up at that point.

"Of course." He said and walked back into the house. I looked around to make sure no one else was around before I started towards Colonel Burwell.

"Sarah, I want to apologize for –" he started when I was standing in front of him, but I cut him off, kissing him hard. He gave me a puzzled look when I pulled away from him.

"I should be the one apologizing. What you said earlier, it just caught me off guard. I was not expecting that. At all." I said, looking down at my hands.

"You're trying to tell me something." He speculated, still looking puzzled.

"Yes," I said. "Um, I'm not exactly sure how to say this. Um, well, I share the same feelings for you that you have for me, but, like I said, what you told me earlier caught me off guard. Even now I'm still not sure what to say, except that I just don't want to rush into anything, especially with this war going on, and –" I stared to ramble, but Colonel Burwell cut me off.

"How would this be rushing into anything? Sarah, we have been writing to each other for almost two and half years now. _Two and a half_. Are you really saying this to me right now?" he said, getting frustrated with me.

"I know, and I'm, it's just that –" I started, but he cut me off again.

"What? Just that what? Just that my wife and son died almost _four years ago_? Or that maybe I'm not good enough for you? What is it?" he said, getting angry.

"Will you let me finish one damn sentence!?" I practically yelled, then sat down in a near-by chair to collect myself so I wouldn't start shouting at him. When I calmed down a little bit, I said softly, "I have known you my whole life. But never in a million years did I ever think I would ever feel this way about you. I never thought I could ever feel this strongly about another person." When he didn't say anything, I stood up and said, "I'm going to go rest." And walked back inside, not letting him see the tears rolling down my face.

"Sarah? Are you okay?" Gabriel asked me as I passed him in the hallway.

"Fine." I said as I tried to hurry up the stairs, almost completely forgetting about my wound. But before I could start up the stairs, my father saw me from where he was sitting in the parlor.

"Sarah! What happened?" he asked as he came towards me.

"Nothing, just a small argument." I said and went up the stairs before my father could say anything else. When I got to my room, I closed the door, then flopped onto my bed crying, ignoring the sharp pain in my shoulder. After a few minutes, I could hear my father shouting at someone downstairs and I knew immediately who he was shouting at. After five minutes of it, I decided to go back downstairs and intervene.

"Father," I said as I walked up behind him, but he didn't hear me, so I tried again. "Father" I said, a little louder this time, but still he didn't hear me, so I tried one more time. "FATHER!" yelled as loud as I could. He turned and yelled back (without realizing it), "WHAT!?" then when he saw it was me, said calmly, "Oh, Sarah. I'm sorry I yelled at you."

"It's all right. But will you please stop shouting at Colonel Burwell? Honestly, anyone within a one mile radius could probably hear you." I said, crossing my arms, and my just gave me a very confused look.

"I don't understand." He said slowly.

"Colonel, would you walk with me?" I asked Colonel Burwell, ignoring my father.

"Are you sure?" he asked me.

"Very. Shall we?" I said, motioning for him to head down the back steps first, which he did and I followed.

"So, what is all this about?" He asked as we walked.

"I just wanted to apologize for what happened. I didn't mean to yell at you. I just got a little angry is all. Especially if you really think that you're not good enough for me." I said, and when he didn't answer, I stopped and turned him towards me, then continued, "Harry, what could ever make you feel like you're not good enough for me?" I said, and he refused to look at me. I took his face between my hand and made him look at me and I could still see pain in his eyes.

He looked me straight in the eye and said quietly, "Like I said earlier, It's okay if you don't feel the same way."

"Well you know what? That's not the problem. The problem is that I feel exactly the same way and that scares me to be completely honest. Like _I_ said earlier, I had no idea I could feel this strongly about one person. I never have before. This is a completely new feeling for me. You have to understand that." I said.

"Now I'm not sure what to say." He said, but I could see that he look of pain was gone from his eyes.

"You don't have to say anything." I said and took his hands in mine, stepping closer to him.

"But there's something I could do." He said, then leaned down and kissed me very gently.

When we pulled away, he leaned hi forehead against mine and said, "I promise you, I will never push you to do anything that you aren't comfortable with."

"Thank you." I said, smiling. "We should probably head back." I added, noticing how late in the afternoon it was getting.

"You're right. Let's go." He said and we walked back to Aunt Charlotte's house, chatting happily. When we got there, Aunt Charlotte was on the back porch.

"Sarah, are you okay?" she asked when we were close enough, a very concerned look on her face.

"Yes, why?" I asked, confused.

"You're bleeding." She said, walking over to me.

"Oh, great." I mumbled under my breath.

"Come one, I'll help you get that cleaned up." Colonel Burwell said and led me back upstairs to my room. I pushed my blood-stained sleeve down as much as I could as Colonel Burwell took the bandages off.

"These probably should have been changed right after lunch." He said as we worked. "Oh no." He said after getting all of the bandages off.

"What?" I asked, scared something bad had happened.

"This needs to be looked at by a surgeon." He said, worry in his voice.

"You have got to be kidding me." I said under my breath.

"I'm afraid no, my dear. I'll have the surgeon from camp come first thing in the morning." He said, starting to put fresh bandages on my shoulder once he got the bleeding to stop.

"Thank you, Harry." I said as I pulled my sleeve back up to my shoulder, even though there was blood on it.

"You're welcome." He said, smiling, and kissed my forehead.

"Sarah, I've brought you a different dress to put on. Dinner should be ready soon." Aunt Charlotte said, coming into my room.

"I'll see you downstairs." Colonel Burwell said and kissed my cheek before heading downstairs.

"I see you two have patched things up." Aunt Charlotte said as she helped me change.

"We have. And I'm very glad we have. I know he has to leave in a few days, it would've been terrible if he had left and things were still tense between us." I said.

"I know, and not just for the two of you. Everyone would be able to feel it." Aunt Charlotte said with a laugh.

"True." I said with a smile. When I finished changing, Aunt Charlotte helped me downstairs for dinner. I had to sit between Colonel Burwell and Thomas, but I didn't mind because Thomas didn't talk across me the whole time like Gabriel had once. Everyone decided to go outside after dinner since it was so nice out and I decided to just stay on the porch talking with Father, Aunt Charlotte, and Colonel Burwell. Everyone just made small talk for a while, trying to avoid saying anything about what happened between me and Harry earlier, but I knew Aunt Charlotte couldn't stay quiet for long.

"So, should we expect a wedding in the near future?" she asked. I looked over at Harry with a look of bewilderment and he looked just as shocked as I was.

"I'm afraid not." He finally answered, then no one said anything for a while.

"Well, I think I'm going to head on to bed. I feel very tired." I said, standing up.

"I'll walk you up." Colonel Burwell said, following me.

"Well, I guess we should've seen that coming." I said as we slowly walked up the stairs.

"Yes, I suppose so." Harry said, then an awkward silence fell between us and it only got worse as we entered my room.

"Well, good night, I suppose." I said, looking at my hands.

"Yes, good night. Now, I'm in the next room over. If you need anything, don't hesitate to come ask me." He said.

"Okay. Thank you." I said. He leaned down to kiss me good night, but this kiss felt different than any others had. When he started to pull away, I pulled him back to me and deepened the kiss. He moved his hands to my shoulders, but I gasped in pain and pulled back suddenly when his grip got firmer.

"Oh, God. I'm so sorry." He said.

"No, it's okay." I said, putting my left hand on my inured should gingerly.

"The bandages should probably be changed. Here, sit down and I'll do it." He said, leading me over to a chair.

"All right. Could you untie the back of my dress first, though? I'm going to change and get some sleep when you leave." I said.

"All right." He said a little nervously, then added, "Are you sure about this?" because he knew it wasn't really the most proper thing to do.

"Yes. If we plan on getting married sometime after the war it's something you should get used to." I said and he looked at me in disbelief, then smiled and untied the laces on the back of my dress before changing the bandages on my shoulder.

"Don't forget, I'm close if you need anything. Good night." He said with a smile, then kissed me again.

"Good night." I said before he left, then hanged and went to bed.

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Thanks everyone for reading! I would love to hear what you thought! :)


	9. Good-bye's

Here's chapter nine! Sorry it's shorter than usual, I just wanted to get something up for you guys. Enjoy! :)

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The next morning, I woke up before the sun came up and I was freezing despite the warm weather. I didn't know why or anything, so I went over to Colonel Burwell's room. I knocked quietly and heard him say "Come in" and I was surprised to find that he was already up and dressed.

"Are you okay?" he asked with concern when he saw me.

"I don't think so. Something's wrong." I said, still freezing and I could feel sweat forming all over me.

"You're burning up. I'm going to go get the surgeon from the camp now. Just go back to bed and I'll be back soon." He said after feeling my face to see if I had a fever and walked me back to my room. I only had to wait about fifteen minutes before he came back with the surgeon. He made Colonel Burwell wait in the hallway while he eamined the wound on my shoulder.

"Well, Miss Martin, I'm afraid the bullet wound has gotten infected. It will have to be cleaned with alcohol each time the bandages are changed, which should be done about every four to six hours now." The surgeon said, then stood up to leave.

"Thank you." I said. When he left, both Colonel Burwell and my father came into my room.

"How are you feeling?" Father asked as he sat on the edge of the bed.

"I'm cold. The surgeon said the bullet wound got infected." I said quietly.

"All right. I'll go get the alcohol to clean it." He said and left.

"Should I be worried?" I asked Harry when he sat on the edge of the bed.

"No, it should pass in a week or two. You're going to be fine." He said with a reassuring smile.

"When do you have to leave? There is still a war going on." I said.

"Washington gave me orders to stay here for a while. There isn't anything we can do right now. He has far too much trust in Gates." He said.

"I'm glad you'll be here for a while." I said, then my father came back to clean my wound. I held on to Colonel Burwell's hand tightly while Father cleaned my wound because it hurt so much.

"You should rest now. I'll have Charlotte bring up something to eat for you later." Father said, then left.

"Will you be okay?" Colonel Burwell asked me.

"Yes. But will you stay a little longer?" I said.

"Of course." He said, taking my hand, and sat on the edge of the bed. I wasn't sure when he left because I fell asleep after a few minutes of talking to him. My fever didn't go away for another week and everyone was getting worried. The day it did, Colonel Burwell was the first person to come check on me.

"Good morning, Sarah. How are you feeling?" He said when he came in.

"Better. I think the fever finally broke." I said and he put his hand up to my face to check.

"I believe it has. That's good. You should probably still stay in bed today, though. Just to be safe." He said.

"Do I really have to? I hate staying in this bed all day." I said.

"I know, but it's probably a good idea to not over-exert yourself. Tomorrow you can get up and do whatever you want. Promise." He said.

"Oh, all right." I said defeatedly, making him laugh.

"You know, I never thought I would ever develop feelings for you. For the longest time you were always just my friend Benjamin's daughter." He said, changing the subject.

"Yes, but then none of us saw you in sixteen years. A lot can happen in that amount of time." I said.

"This is true." He said with a laugh.

The next week went by without any incident, but then Colonel Burwell got orders to move twenty miles west to help in the effort of keeping Cornwallis in South Carolina. I was completely well by then and I woke up early to help Aunt Charlotte and the cooks make breakfast for the regiment. It was a very daunting task, but everything was ready by sunrise and all of the men were at the house, ready to eat. Once they were done, they all went to pack up their camp, except for Colonel Burwell. When he was ready to go, I went out with him to say good-bye.

"Be careful. And don't forget to write." I said.

"Of course. I'll write as often as I can." He said, taking my hands in his.

"I'll miss you." I said quietly.

"I'll miss you, too. We'll see each other again before you know it. I must go now." He said.

"Good-bye." I said.

"Good-bye." He said and kissed me tenderly. I watched him ride off then went back in the house. The next morning when everyone woke up, Gabriel was already gone to join up with Burwell and his men. Father left before lunch to find Gabriel and goin up with the militia.

"Sarah, I expect you and Thomas to take care of everyone." He said to me when he was telling everyone good-bye.

"All right, we will." I said and he moved on to tell everyone else good-bye. We all watched him ride off, then Aunt Charlotte got everyone inside to eat lunch.

The next few weeks went by calmly, but one day I got an unexpected visitor. I was in my room reading when Aunt Charlotte came up and said, "Sarah, there's someone here to see you." I put my book down and went downstairs to the parlor. I was very surprised to see Colonel Burwell waiting for me.

"Harry, what are you doing here?" I said, walking into the parlor.

"I wanted to see you before we moved out again." He said, walking over to me. Then continued, "I have something important to ask you."

"Okay." I said, seeing the urgency in his expression.

"Sarah, would you do me the honor of becoming my wife?" he said, shocking me. I just stared at him for a few minutes, then finally whispered, "What?" and when I said that, he looked a little crestfallen.

"Well, this is just all kind of sudden. I mean –" I started quickly, but he cut me off.

"I see. Well, I should be going." He said, then kissed my cheek and walked out of the room.

"Sarah, you are so stupid!" I said to myself, then walked out to go after him. I saw him walking quickly away from the house, and I hurried to catch up with him, even calling out his name, but he didn't turn around. I kept walking for a while, but noticed it was getting a little late and turned to head back, but after a few minutes I noticed that I had no clue where I was and started to panic. When I could finally see the house in the distance, I breathed out a sigh of relief and started that way, but before I could take more than a couple of steps, someone grabbed me from behind and put a hand over my mouth so I couldn't scream. I could see Aunt Charlotte on the front porch, but she couldn't get to me in time before I was thrown on a horse and the person raced away as quickly as the horse could go.

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Alrighty, I would love to hear what you think! Thanks! :)


	10. A Second Encounter With The Butcher

Finally got chapter ten up! Woo! Enjoy! :)

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After the person that grabbed me got a mile or two away from Aunt Charlotte's house he spoke.

"I'm sorry about this, Sarah. I had to obey orders or risk hanging." He said and I knew immediately who it was.

"James Wilkins, what in the world are you doing!?" I yelled.

"I said I'm sorry. I tried to get out of doing this, but I couldn't. And I can't tell you what's going on, so don't ask." He said, slowing the horse down to a trot. I just sighed and stayed quiet the rest of the time. We rode into a British camp and he tok me over to an officer's tent.

"Colonel, I've brought the girl." Wilkins said, this Colonel's back to us.

"Excellent. Thank you, Wilkins. You can leave." This Colonel said, and I recognized hi voice. When Wilkins left, the Colonel turned towards me and I immediately knew who he was. Tavington.

"Hello, Miss Martin. I hope you have been well." He said, but I stayed silent. "I see you're going to make this difficult." He continued. "I just want to ask you a few questions."

"If you think I know anything, you're wrong." I said, my voice cold.

"Oh, but I think you do. Come with me." He said, walking out of the tent and grabbing my arm on his way past me.

"I can walk on my own thank you very much." I said, jerking my arm away from him.

"Feisty, aren't you? Perfect." He sneered, forcing me up on a horse. We rode to a big house that had been turned in the headquarters of Lord Cornwallis. Tavington had a painful grip on my arm that I couldn't get out of as he led me to Cornwallis.

"My lord, we got the girl." Tavington said and Cornwallis looked up.

"Will you unhand the poor girl? And you call yourself a gentleman." Cornwallis scoffed and I almost had to hold back a laugh before I jerked my arm out of Tavington's grip for the second time that night.

"Leave us." Cornwallis said to Tavington, waving him off.

"Miss Martin, is it?" Cornwallis asked when Tavington left and I nodded. "I apologize on his behalf, that man claims to be a gentleman, but I don't see it. Do you have any idea why you were brought here?" Cornwallis asked me and I was honestly surprised at how polite he was.

"I don't, sir." I said politely.

"Colonel Tavington is under the impression that having you here will successfully bring the Colonial Army straight to us and that you might know something about their whereabouts. I'm afraid he will be quite rude to you and I apologize in advance for that.' He said surprising me again, this time by his blunt honesty.

"Sir, I tell you honestly, I have no knowledge of their position." I said.

"I figured as much. Nonetheless, Tavington will question you in the morning and hold you here until he hears what he wants. Come, I will show you to your rooms." Cornwallis said, standing up and motioning for me to follow him. The room he led me to was very nice and I even had my own sitting room.

"I hope you rest well, Miss Martin. You'll need it." He said, then left. A maid came in to help me undress and I soon went to bed, still amazed at how polite Cornwallis was to me. I knew that if I had stayed in that camp I wouldn't have been treated so well, but I was still scared about what was going to happen to me.

The next morning, I was woken up very rudely by Tavington. He burst into the room suddenly, scaring the living daylights out of me.

"You, get up! I expect you in Lord Cornwallis' receiving chamber in ten minutes." He said, then left as quickly as he came. I threw the covers off of me and stood up as the maid from last night came in.

"I don't understand that man. And everyone is convinced he's such a gentleman." She said as she helped me dress and I actually laughed a little bit. When she was done, she said, "I hope he doesn't treat you too bad, miss." And left with a small curtsy. I took a deep breath and made my way to the room I was first taken to yesterday.

"Good morning, Miss Martin. Please come and eat. Colonel Tavington will be with us shortly." Cornwallis said, motioning for me to sit at the one end of the table he was sitting at, which I did. There was a fair amount of food laid out, but I just nibbled on some fruit. Soon (too soon if you ask me), Tavington came into start questioning me.

"Now, you will answer all of my questions truthfully or suffer the consequences. Do you understand?" Tavington said as soon as he came in.

"Colonel, you could show some respect to the young lady. She has done nothing wrong. I apologize for him, Miss Martin." Cornwallis said and I gave him a slight nod.

"Very well. Miss Martin, tell me, do you know anything of the whereabouts of either your father, Colonel Benjamin Martin, or Colonel Harry Burwell?" Tavington said, a little more polite.

"No." I said, determined to speak only when absolutely necessary.

"I see you're going to make this difficult. Very well then. I will get answers out of you, Miss Martin, I can guarantee you that." Tavington said, taking a step towards me.

"I gave you an answer." I retorted back, glaring at him, and I could tell I was making him very angry.

"Colonel! You will not address this young woman in such a manner1 Now, I believe you have some duties to perform today? Leave us, I no longer require your presence." Cornwallis said and waved Tavington off. Tavington left in a huff and I was glad he was gone.

"If you don't mind, sir, I would like to go back to my rooms." I said to Cornwallis.

"Of course. I have some correspondences to answer anyway. Good day, Miss Martin." He said and I nodded a small curtsy and made my way back to the rooms I was given, determined to write a letter to my father and Colonel Burwell, but I wasn't sure how I would get them out. Then, I got an idea. Cornwallis seemed to be gentleman enough and I was sure he would allow me to write to Aunt Charlotte to let her know I was okay, so I sat down and began writing a letter to her. It read:

_Aunt Charlotte,_

_ Please do not fear for me. Though I was captured by that dreadful Tavington, I am quite all right. Though Tavington is very rude, I am staying in the headquarters of Lord Cornwallis and he is making sure that I am cared fro properly and he himself is a very polite gentleman. I am afraid of being taken away from here and having to live in a camp with that awful Tavington around, but I will focus on that when (and if) needed._

_ Sarah_

In a corner where I was sure she would see it, I wrote in small letters:

_I have also enclosed letters for Father and Colonel Burwell and I hope they will find their way to you so you can send them out as soon as possible._

Next, I wrote letters to Father and Colonel Burwell. I kept Father's letter short and to the point so he wouldn't worry too much, but Colonel Burwell's letter was substantially longer. It read:

_My dearest Harry,_

_ Please forgive me for what happened at my Aunt Charlotte's house. I was not ready for something like that. I must have you know that after you left, James Wilkins captured me. He is a Dragoon now and did it on Tavington's orders. Don't worry too much, I am quite all right, just a little shaken up. I was brought to the headquarters of Lord Cornwallis and will be questioned by Tavington every day until I give him your position, but as you know I do not know where you are. Tavington does not believe me even when I tell him the truth, of course, and I am afraid of what might happen if he continues to not believe me. I hope you are doing well and that you were not too heart- broken after you visited me at Aunt Charlotte's. You know that I care for you deeply and would never want to hurt you in any way. I have given it much consideration and have decided to accept your marriage proposal, if you will still have me. I am a very lucky girl to be engaged to such a man as you. I would like to request, though, that we wait until this war is over to get married. Please do not come for me unless you are absolutely certain that everyone will be safe. I know it is Tavington's idea to get you here (and my father, too) so I am begging you to please not some for me. If I find a way for it to be possible for an escape, I will somehow let you know as soon as possible. I do hope that I won't be here for very long, but there's no telling what will happen, even if Tavington discovers that I am actually telling the truth and even then I may not get out of here. I'll say this one last time, do not worry about me, I am all right._

_ Your fiancée,_

_ Sarah_

I read through the letter to make sure I didn't leave anything out and when I was satisfied, I put all of the letters in an envelope for safety and addressed it to Aunt Charlotte, then decided to ask Cornwallis about writing to Aunt Charlotte later. The maid that had been looking after me brought a tray of food up for me at lunchtime and I found out then that her name was also Sarah. I did learn to like her, she was a very sweet dispositioned girl. When she brought the food up, I asked her if she thought Cornwallis would allow me to send a letter to Aunt Charlotte.

"I don't see why not. I'm sure your aunt would like to know if you're all right." She said.

"Oh good. I think I'll go ask him when I'm done with this." I said and she left. When I was done eating, I went to find Cornwallis. When I found him, he was sitting at his desk writing.

"Ah, Miss Martin. How may I help you?" He said when he saw me.

"I was wondering, sir, if it would be possible for me to send a letter to my aunt. She saw Captain Wilkins grab me and I know she is worried." I said politely.

"Ah, yes. Of course. I suppose you already have it written?" He said.

"Yes sir. Thank you so much." I said, handing him the letter.

"I will have this sent out as soon as possible." He said, taking the letter.

"Thank you, sir." I said, nodded a quick curtsy, and left. I hoped that no one would check the letter, because then they would find the letters to Father and Colonel Burwell. About thirty minutes later, Tavington burst into the room.

"You will write two letters. One to your father and one to that Colonel of yours. You will write what I tell you to, do you understand?" He said. I had noticed that while he still wasn't very polite to me, he wasn't as rude as he had been when I first got there. I didn't say anything, I just went over to the desk and pulled out some parchment and a quill.

Tavington sneered at me and said, "You will write this to both of them. You will say, do not worry for me. You may have heard that I was captured by Lord Cornwallis for questioning, but I must inform you that I went willingly. I know this will be hard for you to believe, but it is true that I have turned to the Loyalist side. Do not come for me for then you will only meet your death. I am all right and being well cared for." He said and I wrote it down.

"They'll know I didn't write it." I said, copying it onto another piece of parchment.

"It is what you will send." Tavington said through clenched teeth, then snatched up both pieces of parchment and quickly strode out of the room. I just said there for a little bit, fear slowly building in the pit of my stomach because I knew those letters would arrive before the ones I sent to Aunt Charlotte. A week went by and nothing happened, but Tavington always came up with some reason to see me, whether it was to question me some more or just passing me in the hallway. After two weeks, he made an unexpected demand of me.

"In three days there will be a ball held at the Middleton's in Charles Town. You will accompany me to this ball. This is not a request." He said, then left as abruptly as he had come, leaving me very confused, but then I realized that he actually didn't hate me but that he felt exactly the opposite. I said there in shock for a few minutes, trying to process what I just realized, which was very hard to do. I wasn't sure what I was going to do about the ball I was supposed to go to in three days, so I guessed I would just have to try and make my way through it somehow. I sighed and laid on my bed and unintentionally fell asleep.

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Thanks for reading everyone! I would love to hear what you think! :)


	11. The Ball

Hey guys! So here's chapter 11. Sorry it's taken so long to update, I'm gonna try to do better about getting new chapters up faster. Enjoy! :)

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The next day when the maid Sarah came in, she surprised me by handing me a letter and I recognized the handwriting.

"What's this?" I asked curiously.

"It's from Colonel Burwell." She said simply.

"What? Wait. So are you a spy?" I asked quietly so that no one in the hall would hear.

"Yes ma'am. Many of us freed slaves are. I would suggest you read that before that Tavington shows up. And Colonel Burwell wants you to burn it after you read it." She said.

"Thank you, Sarah." I said with a smile. She curtsied and left so I could read the letter. It read:

_ Dear Sarah,_

_ I can honestly say that when I got that first letter, I was sad and angry and so many other things, I didn't know what to do, but then, just a few hours later, I got the other letter and was very confused about what was going on, so I met up with your father. He had gotten the same exact first letter as I had and then we knew something was up. You really have no idea how worried I have been since getting those letters. I want to come and get you as soon as I possibly can, but I know that would be unwise and I would not risk the safety of you or my men because I know that I would just be doing exactly what Tavington wants and I do not want to give him that satisfaction. You have no idea how happy it makes me that you have accepted my marriage proposal. I would marry you as soon as possible if I could, but I will honor your request and we will wait until the war is over. I think you will be pleased to know that I am much closer than you might think, your father as well. I'm sure you know that everyone is trying very hard to keep Cornwallis in the South, and the only way to do that is to stay close to him. But don't worry, we are well hidden and the British have no idea that we are close at all, which is a small comfort. You really should not fear Tavington as much as I think you do. Though he may not follow Cornwallis' orders on the battlefield most of the time, he would not disobey orders right in Cornwallis' face. Men that do that get hanged immediately and without trial, but I would be careful with how you act around him. I would not put severe violence past him, even to a woman, and I know how stubborn and strong-willed you are, so just be careful. I hope I will be able to see you sooner rather than later. I could not bear it if anything ever happened to you. As I'm sure you have been told, you must burn this as soon as possible. We cannot risk someone finding it. If there's anything I could do, I would help you escape myself, but for now we must only hope that we will see each other soon._

_ I remain most affectionately yours,_

_ Col. Harry Burwell_

I read through the letter over and over again and memorized every word of it, then threw it into the small fire in my room. Just as the last of it burned, there was a knock at my door and James Wilkins walked in.

"Miss Martin. I have a request for you. I'm sure you know of the ball taking place at the Middleton's in two days time and I was wondering if you would accompany me to it." He said, seeming a little nervous.

"Oh. Well, I would, if Tavington hadn't already demanded that I go with him." I said.

"That bastard." He said under his breath, then continued clearly, "Very well. I will look forward to seeing you there anyway, Miss Martin. Good day." He said and left before I could speak again.

"Great, now there's two British officers with feelings for me. Oh if they knew I was engaged." I said to myself, sitting on the bed. The next two days went by without even being questioned by Tavington, which I was perfectly okay with, but then the day of the ball came and I was absolutely terrified.

"Good morning, Miss Martin. I've got some water heating up for a nice bath this morning. You'll even be using some oils all the way from France." Sarah said, trying to cheer me up.

"Thank you, Sarah." I said, then out of curiosity asked, "What scent are they?"

"Whatever scent you would like. I think there's lavender, lemon, maybe mint, rose, just about anything you want really." She said.

"Hm, I can't decide between rose and lavender. Which would you suggest?" I said.

"I'm partial to rose myself, but lavender smells very pretty too." She said.

"I think I'll go with rose." I said and Sarah left to get the bath oil. Though I was dreading the ball, I was excited about the bath because I had never used oils before, only lye soap.

"All right, everything's ready." Sarah came in and said, leading me into the next room over. It was indeed a very nice bath and I loved how the oil smelled. Sarah stayed and helped me wash my hair, then left so I could finish up. I stayed in my room most of the day, only talking to Sarah, then she had me take another bath (without washing my hair) that afternoon. I didn't understand the need for it, but enjoyed it nonetheless.

"I hope you'll like this dress." Sarah said, bringing the dress into my room after my second bath. It was a gorgeous dress. It was light blue, of the finest silk, and I knew it would look beautiful on me with my dark hair and blue eyes. On the bodice, there were three x's of cream colored satin ribbon with a pearl in the middle of each x with an intricate pattern around it, the same pattern on the underskirts, and lace along the neckline and the bottom of the sleeves. It was the most beautiful dress I had ever seen.

"It's beautiful." I breathed.

"It is, isn't it? I need to do your hair before you put this on, though." Sarah said and ushered me into a chair, giving me a robe to put over my shift. She put my hair into intricate braids and curls, weaving a ribbon of tiny pearls into it. I could tell she was a perfectionist because she would start working on one part but then would take that part down and start over again if she wasn't happy with it. When she was done, it was absolutely beautiful and she put a string of small pearls around my neck and clasped pearl earrings onto my ears.

"Wow. You did such a gorgeous job, Sarah." I said, admiring her work.

"Well thank you. No come and get into this dress." She said, the way she said it making me laugh. Unfortunately, I had to wear a corset, but Sarah didn't pull it as tight as Aunt Charlotte usually did, which I was grateful for.

"My, my. You look so beautiful, Miss Martin." Sarah said once I was completely dressed.

"Only because of you." I said with a smile, but she waved off the compliment.

When the time came to leave, I was still terrified, but I had already gotten many compliments on my dress and hair, eve from Tavington, which really surprised me. I had never been to the Middleton's, even on visits to Aunt Charlotte's, and they had a beautiful large house and I immediately knew they were part of the high society bunch. As Tavington practically dragged me along beside him, we approached a man that I recognized, but couldn't remember where from.

"Ah, Colonel Tavington. Good evening. And who is this beautiful young woman that you are lucky to have on your arm?" the man said cheerily and I suspected that he had already had a couple of drinks.

"Good evening, Mr. Middleton. May I present Miss Sarah Martin." Tavington said and I bobbed a curtsy.

"Sarah Martin? Benjamin Martin's daughter? I had no idea you were on the Loyalist side." Mr. Middleton said.

"Yes, well, she has seen the light, you might say. Good evening." Tavington said, then lead me away from Mr. Middleton.

"You know, I do know how to talk for myself." I said quietly between clenched teeth.

"We don't want anything to slip, now do we? Just let me do all the talking." Tavington said coolly.

"No." I said simply, stopping, and crossed my arms.

"Do you know what happens to those who disobey, Miss Martin?" he said and I could see the anger flaring up in his eyes.

"What? Are you going to hang me? Just for not listening?" I said, challenging him.

"No, for treason." He said haughtily.

"You have no evidence of treason to use against me." I said, narrowing my eyes and starting to walk away from him.

"No, except for those letters to your dear fiancée and father." He said, making me stop short.

"I don't know what you're talking about." I said, feigning innocence. I was suddenly absolutely terrified again. If he knew about those letters, things could only get worse for me.

"Oh, but I think you do. Come, let's dance." He said from right behind me, then led me to the dance floor. I stayed in that stuffy room for an hour before I needed some fresh air.

"I need some air." I said and walked away before anyone could say anything and, surprisingly, I wasn't followed. I decided to walk down the garden path because no one was over there and I didn't want to be bothered. I was leisurely walking and gazing up at the moon for a few minutes before something unexpected happened. Suddenly, as I was passing by a large bush, someone grabbed me and put a hand over my mouth, making my attempt at screaming futile.

"Sarah, Sarah, calm down. It's all right." The person said and my eyes went wide at whose voice it was. They let me go when I quit struggling, and I whipped around, gaping at them in shock.

"Harry! What are you doing here?" I said, hoping no one would hear.

"I've come for you, of course." He said and if it was obvious.

"I can't come with you now! We would have a whole regiment of Dragoons at our heels by morning!" I said, exasperated, but then I noticed him staring and asked, "What?"

"Oh, nothing. I've never seen you look so gorgeous before." He breathed, making me blush a deep red.

"Oh, well, thank you." I said shyly.

He put his hand up to my cheek, then after a few moments said, "I will find a way to get you out of here. If not tonight, soon." The intensity in his eyes was staggering.

"Maybe you can tonight. All of the men will probably go to the tavern tonight after the ball. I think that would be the best time for me to try escaping. There's a little creek in the woods to the south of Cornwallis' headquarters. If I can get there, I'll meet you there to get out of here. Have a horse ready, because we still might need to run." I said quickly.

"You truly are brilliant. Cornwallis' headquarters really isn't that far from here, anyone could walk and be there in less than thirty minutes." He said.

"Excellent. It's very nice out tonight, so I could walk back. It's a plan." I said, smiling, then we heard a big explosion and I could see a ship on fire not too far away.

"That'll be your father." Colonel Burwell said with a chuckle.

"Of course. I need to get back, we don't want Tavington coming after me." I said.

"Okay. Be careful." Colonel Burwell said and I began to walk away, but he pulled me back to him and kissed me soundly. I smiled and made my way back to the house. Tavington found me in no time and I sighed inwardly, dreading the rest of the night. As I suspected, most of the men made their way to various taverns in Charles Town and my ride back was to be a solitary one.

"I think I'll walk back." I told the driver when he got to me.

"Are you sure, miss?" he asked me.

"Yes. The way is well lit. Go enjoy yourself with the others." I said with a smile.

"Thank you, miss." The driver said with a grin and make his way to a tavern, hopefully not the same one Tavington was in. I began to make my way towards the house, hoping that no one would see me not going into the house. I took a deep breath and began walking. It felt like that might be the last time I would see Charles Town for a long time.

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Thanks for reading everyone! I would love to hear what you thought! :)


	12. Just As Things Had Turned Around

Hello everyone! First, I want to apologize for how long it's taken to get this up, I've just been really exhausted thanks to a little kitten that I have to feed then play with about every six hours, so yay no sleep at night haha. Second, I want to thank Jupiter Water Goddess for the review. Knowing that people like this story makes me want to keep going with it (but I promise I'll try to update more often than this). And of course I want to thank LoverOfTheMusic your help on this and the reviews always make my day! So funny story before I continue with the story, so for whatever reason this chapter was hard to write, I kept getting writer's block really bad every time I tried to write, then one night while I was staying up late to feed my kitten, I got really bored and on one half of a page in the notebook I'm writing this in, there's this nice little doodle of a small town main road. Yeah, I got really bored that night and was completely just lost with what to write at that point, but I finally finished it! Enjoy! :)

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As I approached the house, I looked around to make sure no one else was around and when I didn't see anyone, I started towards the woods. What I didn't know at the time, though, was that someone was watching me from the house. There were no lights in any of the windows so I just assumed no one was back yet, but I was wrong. Going into the woods at night was not anything I would ever do normally, but knowing that Colonel Burwell would be there (and was probably already waiting for me) helped me to put my fears aside. I wasn't sure at what part of the creek he would be at, but I hoped it wouldn't take too long to find him. I cautiously entered the woods, not knowing exactly what I might find in there, and soon found the creek I had told Harry about. I tried to see if I could see him, but with the trees overhead it was difficult to see more than a few yards in front of me, so I decided to head upstream. I walked very slowly, trying to make as little noise as possible when I heard some rustling behind me. I froze where I was, hoping it was Colonel Burwell and not an animal or worse, a redcoat. Whatever was behind me got closer and I heard someone whisper my name, making me turn around.

"Harry?" I called quietly, then I could see him a few feet away from me.

"Sarah? Good. Come this way, we aren't too far from the camp." He whispered when he found me and led me downstream, away from the house where Cornwallis and a few others were in residence. Soon, the trees began to thin out and we approached a horse and a Continental soldier. He nodded at me and we all silently walked on. After twenty or thirty minutes, we came to a clearing where the camp was set up. Luckily, most of the soldiers were asleep when we got there, so no one really noticed me. Colonel Burwell led me to what I assumed was his tent and said, "We don't have any extra tents, but I have an extra cot in here. I hope you don't mind."

"I don't. Thank you." I said as he led me into the tent.

"Of course." He said, walking over to a small table.

"Um, Harry, Tavington knows about the letter I sent you." I said carefully.

"Which one?" He asked, looking through some papers.

"Well, both of them. One he made me write, of course, but he found out about the other one too." I said, a hint of fear in my voice. He stopped what he was doing and looked at me. I continued, "I'm not sure how he found out about it. I had it hidden with the letter Cornwallis let me send to Aunt Charlotte and I didn't think anyone would check it."

"It could have been intercepted. You must not go far from the camp while you're here. If he captures you again, I do not think you will be able to get away so easily again." He said and I nodded in understanding. We stood there awkwardly for a few moments before he said, "Well, I have a couple of things to see to." and left so I could have a few moments to myself, which I was grateful for. I sat down in a chair to let my brain process everything that had happened that night. I couldn't believe I got away so easily and hoped Tavington wouldn't come looking for me, even though I knew he would. I barely slept that night for fear of redcoats entering the camp and discovering me. Even though I insisted that he get some sleep, Colonel Burwell stayed up with me until I fell asleep. We talked about everything that had happened and eventually we got on the topic of our wedding, even though we had no idea when it would be since we were waiting for the war to end.

"Where would you like for the wedding to take place?" He asked me, changing the subject from the events of that day.

"I'm not sure. I really haven't given if much though. In Charles Town would be nice, I think, or somewhere along the Santee." I said.

"That would be nice. We have plenty of time to think about that, though. Will this be a large or small affair?" He said.

"Hm, small. After being at that ball tonight, I wouldn't mind not ever being in a large crowd again." I said and he laughed.

"Yes. I agree. It will be much more intimate that way as well." He said.

"I think it will be quite nice." I said with a smile. We talked for about an hour more before I fell asleep. When I woke up the next morning, Colonel Burwell was already up and studying a map, trying to figure out what to do next I assumed.

"Good morning, dear. I'm afraid I have some bad news. I just received orders to move camp again. Washington wants my regiment to move closer to the border of North Carolina" He said when he saw me.

"I don't mind. Besides, I'm sure I could go back to Aunt Charlotte's –" I started, but he cut me off.

"No, then would expect you to go back there. I would feel better about all of this if you stayed here in the camp or in your father's camp. Whichever you would prefer." He said.

"Oh, um, I'm not sure." I said.

"I'll give you time to think about it. We are to stay here for another two weeks until the move." He said, then got up and left. I wasn't sure what I was going to do all day, but I soon figured out that every soldier in the camp had at least one item of clothing that had a hole or tear in it and that there was much more that needed to be cleaned, so I decided that while I was there I could at least make myself useful in some way. I was working on a shirt with the sleeve half ripped off when Colonel Burwell found me again.

"Ah, there you are. I've been looking for you." He said as he sat beside me.

"Whatever for, Colonel?" I said teasingly with a smile.

"Can I not just spend a few moments with my fiancée?" He said, pretending to be offended.

I put down the shirt and, trying not to laugh, said, "Well, I suppose so. But what of your duties?"

"Oh, there really isn't much to do right now. I'm just waiting for a scout to return from a mission." He said, smiling.

"I see. I'll go put this away and we could go on a walk if you like." I said, standing up and gathering the mending.

Colonel Burwell followed me into the tent we were currently sharing and said, "Perhaps. Oh, I also am going to try finding a tent for you. We may have a few extra after all."

"Thank you." I said as I straightened back up and when I turned to walk out of the tent, I nearly fell over because I had not realized that Colonel Burwell was standing directly behind me, but he caught me before I could fall. It was only when I regained my balance that I realized how close we were to each other. I looked up into his eyes and saw something there that I had never seen before and I wasn't completely sure I knew what it was either.

"Are you all right, Harry?" I asked quietly and he answered by kissing me. I was momentarily caught off guard by the sheer force of the kiss, but once I regained my bearings, I wrapped my arms around his neck and he pulled me close which I wasn't even sure that was possible. When we pulled away from each other, we were both breathing hard and I grinned up at him.

"Would you still like to go on that walk?" He said.

"Colonel, you astound me! Of course I do." I said and started to walk out of the tent, Colonel Burwell soon following me. I stopped short when I exited the tent. Colonel Burwell bumped into me when he walked out of the tent and started apologizing, but I wasn't paying attention to him because of the other Colonel in front of me. Colonel Burwell cursed under his breath when he noticed the other man.

"Good afternoon, Colonel. I have come to retrieve what is mine." Tavington said from his horse, much too cheerily.

"I have nothing of yours." Colonel Burwell spat at the man, pulling me closer to him.

"Oh, but you do. You see, Miss Martin here is now classified as a prisoner of war. Now hand the girl over or you will very much regret it." Tavington threatened.

"No. She is no prisoner of yours." Colonel Burwell said coldly.

I turned to Colonel Burwell and said quietly, " Harry, I will go with them. You cannot afford to lose any men. Do not worry about me, everything will be fine." I said, trying to sound comforting.

"I am not going to let you go with them." He said.

"I can and will use force to take my prisoner if need be." Tavington spoke as if I was a possession of his.

"She isn't anything of yours." Colonel Burwell said, stepping in front of me.

"Harry, stop. I will go with them if it means you will be safe." I said, grasping his arm.

"Smart girl." Tavington mused and I glared up at him.

"I cannot let you do this. I don't want to lose you again." Harry said, turning towards me again.

"I will be all right." I said reassuringly and Colonel Burwell hung his head slightly in defeat.

"You will meet us at the creek in ten minutes." Tavington said and rode off with his men.

"Sarah, this is madness." Colonel Burwell hissed at me.

"This whole war is madness." I snapped at him and stormed back into the tent to gather the few things I had acquired while in the camp. I heard Colonel Burwell come in after me, but I didn't acknowledge his presence.

"Sarah, you don't have to do this!" He nearly shouted at me.

"There is no need to shout at me, Colonel. I can take care of myself." I said as calmly as I could. He came up behind me and turned me around roughly, more so that he intended.

"You do not need to do this." He said firmly.

"Yes. I. Do." I said, getting angry.

He sighed, running a hand over his face, and said, "There's no reason to argue. Please don't be angry with me."

"You're right. I'm sorry. How long has it been since they left?" I said with a sigh, putting my hands on his arms.

"Not even two minutes." He said.

"Good. We have some time to ourselves." I said, having already gotten everything together and in a small bag. We didn't talk hardly at all, just enjoyed each other's company and he stole a few kisses here and there.

"I should go." I said quietly, staring into Colonel Burwell's chest. He pulled me to him into a tight embrace and gently kissed me one more time.

"Be careful out there. We both know of Tavington's brutality." He said, even more quietly than I had been. All I could do was nod, then made my way out of the tent and towards the woods where I was supposed to meet up with the Dragoons.

"Good, you're on time. You will be riding with Wilkins." Tavington said when I reached them and I was just thankful that I didn't have to ride behind Tavington. We all stayed silent on the ride back to Cornwallis' headquarters, but as we neared the large house, we turned and headed past it. It was then that I realized I would be forced to stay in the camp this time instead of the comforts of the large house. When we arrived at the camp, Captain Wilkins helped me down off of the horse before dismounting himself.

"Captain, you will escort Miss Martin to her tent. And make sure she stays there." Tavington said, anger flaring up in his eyes, and stomped off to his own tent.

"I'm sorry about all of this, Sarah." Captain Wilkins said, handing off his horse to one of the other men, then began to lead me to where ever my tent was.

"You have no need to apologize, James. You've done nothing against me. I've known you since we were children, I'm very glad not to be completely on my own here. What did he mean by 'and make sure she stays there'?" I said as we walked.

"Well, the Colonel figures that you will probably try to escape again, which I do not advise doing, and since we have known each other almost our whole lives, you would trust me over anyone else to be your guard, per se. Plus, Lord knows what any of the other men might try to do to you, which is also why your tent is next to mine." He said and I knew exactly what he meant about the other men. Then he continued, "I insisted that a few things be brought here for you from the house. I think there are a few dresses and some other things."

"Thank you, James." I said and he opened my tent flap for me and I ducked inside, needing some time to myself. I sat down on the small cot with a sigh, looking around the tent. I wanted to cry, but I couldn't. I wasn't sure what to do next or if I would be able to escape again. A noise outside my tent brought me out of my thoughts.

"Miss Martin. Come out here. Now." Tavington said loudly from outside my tent.

"Yes, Colonel?" I said when I walked out of my tent, feigning politeness. He just sneered at me.

"You know this area well, yes?" He asked.

"Perhaps." I said stubbornly.

"Miss Martin, I advise that you cooperate with me. You forget that I now know where you precious Colonel Burwell's camp is now and I will do whatever it takes to get answers from you." Tavington said threateningly and my eyes got slightly wider as fear coursed through me.

"Now, do you know this are well or not?" He asked me again.

"I do. But why not ask Captain Wilkins of this area?" I said.

"He was not raised on a farm as you were and is not well acquainted with the deer trails and shortcuts through the woods, but he assured me that you are." Tavington said and I could tell he was getting angry with me.

"Just because I know them does not mean that I will lead you through them just so you can gain some false sense of glory through burning farms and killing women and children." I said, knowing I was crossing a line.

"You should learn to hold your tongue. Women like you are to be seen and not heard. Speak to me in that way again and you will regret it." He said threateningly.

"You forget who I am. You forget that you almost killed my brother, but that I stepped in the way and took the shot instead so he could live. You have completely underestimated me. I do not have to do anything you say. You're lucky I came with you at all." I said angrily and immediately felt the sharp sting of the back of a gloved hand across my cheek, knocking my head to the side. I quickly recovered from the shock of the blow and glared up at Tavington, not wanting to give him the satisfaction of seeing how much it actually hurt.

"I trust you will not make that mistake again. You will lead us through the woods and swamp tomorrow, be ready at first light in the morning. We need to cover as much ground as possible tomorrow." Tavington said, then walked back towards his tent. I turned to head back to my tent, but hearing Captain Wilkins step out of his tent stopped me.

"Are you all right, Sarah?" He asked, his gaze landing on my burning cheek that I was sure was a blazing pink color by then.

"I'm fine." I said and quickly went into my tent before he could say anything else. I sat on the cot and thought about everything that had happened and how, yet again, my life seemed to crumble around me. I was captured by the Dragoons, a prisoner this time (as though I hadn't been last time). I knew Harry would move his men that day, I just hoped if would be far enough away that the Dragoons couldn't find him again. I wasn't sure what would happen next and I was afraid to know. Captain Wilkins offered me some food a couple of hours later, but I refused it. My stomach was in knots so tight that I knew I wouldn't be able to eat anything. I tried to sleep that night, but the anxiety building in the pit of my stomach didn't allow much sleep and I woke up the next morning completely exhausted.

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Again, I am so sorry it took so long to update, I'll try to get chapters up sooner! Thanks for reading! :)


	13. Scouting

Okay, so this is really short, and I'm really sorry about that! I just wanted to get something up for you guys! And I'm pretty stuck right now, but I think I just need to go re-watch the movie, which I will do within the next couple of days. Enjoy! :)

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Since I had trouble sleeping that night, I was ready well before dawn and soon heard the camp start coming to life just before the sun began to rise in the east. I ate the bland meal I was brought for breakfast even though I wasn't hungry, but I knew I needed something in my stomach in my stomach for the long day ahead.

"Miss Martin, you will ride with Wilkins until a horse is secured for you." Tavington said when I met up with the group of Dragoons just after dawn. Captain Wilkins helped me up onto his horse and we started off into the woods. I led the Dragoons through all the invisible rails and short cuts in the woods that I knew, but I was hesitant to go into Black Swamp.

"Is there a problem, Miss Martin?" I heard Tavington say behind me.

"I am not as familiar with the swamp as I am with the woods." I lied smoothly. Really I knew my way through the swamp almost better than the woods, but Colonel Burwell told me that my father and the militia had set up their camp somewhere in Black Swamp and I didn't want to lead the Dragoons right to them.

"We need to cover as much ground as possible. Lead on." Tavington said and I sighed as we continued to move forward.

We rode on for a few minutes until I yelled, "Wait, stop!"

"What is it now?" Tavington said through clenched teeth.

"The ground has sunken down much more just ahead and we will need to walk around it. Head off more towards the left, Captain Wilkins." I said.

"I thought you were not familiar with these parts?" Tavington said, mocking me. I chose not to answer him, which was probably a good idea for me, as my cheek still burned from his blow the previous night. As we rode on, I could feel that we were being watched, but I didn't know by whom. We didn't get attacked, but I could see men dart from tree to tree, waiting for an order that never came. By the time we got back to the camp, it was well past dark and I was exhausted. I refused the food that was offered to me and went straight to bed so I could be alone, not wanting to have to talk to any of the Dragoons. Then next few days went by in a similar way and every day I still had that feeling of being watched and could see shadows moving in the trees, but an attack never came and I began to wonder if it was my father and his men that were watching us. A week after we had started scouting (I assumed that's what it was we were doing, though it was never officially called that) I had my own horse and the only three people that went with me were Colonel Tavington, Captain Bordon, and Captain Wilkins, and we could cover a lot more ground with just four people. That particular day, I didn't see any men among the trees and that feeling of being watched wasn't present, which made me very suspicious, but we returned that night without anything happening. I usually went straight to my tent after such a long day, but that night I decided to talk to Captain Wilkins about what I had seen in the woods and swamps all week, but not that day.

"James? Can I talk to you about something?" I asked him before he went inside his tent.

"Of course." He said and walked over to me.

"Well, since we have been out in the woods and swamps the past week, I have noticed something. Except for today, I think we were being watched." I said.

"Yes, I noticed that as well." He said, surprising me.

"And you haven't told Colonel Tavington?" I asked, thinking that that would be the kind of thing that would need to be reported.

"There's no need. He's not interested in chasing shadows." Wilkins said, which I found hard to believe.

"Really? I though he was obsessed with trying to find this Ghost?" I said, confused.

"Sarah, I know the Ghost is your father and that the men out there are his men. I have chosen not to inform the Colonel of any of this for you safety." He said quietly, stunning me with that information.

"But, why?" I asked.

"You do not realize how much I do actually care for you, do you?" He said.

"Oh, well, I suppose not." I said, looking down.

"Well, I do. And I know that Colonel Tavington would show you no mercy if he knew those men were out there." Wilkins said, scaring me a little bit.

"Thank you, James." I said and went into my tent. I had always known that James cared for me on some level, but the way he said it made me think that maybe it was more than I thought. Then there was the matter of Tavington. He had a very hard, cold exterior, but I suspected that he had a much softer and warmer interior and just never showed it because of his reputation. That day I had noticed how Tavington would glance my way every so often and it was not always with a look I appreciated, but a few times, his eyes were not the normal icy blue that everyone associated with him, but were much warmer, like a clear blue ocean, and I knew he was not all cruelty and deceit. The longer I stayed in the Dragoon camp, the friendlier everyone got with me. I mostly just talked to Captain Wilkins and Captain Bordon since their tents were closest to mine, but some other Dragoons would join the three of us at meal times and such. On one of the days we didn't go out in the woods, Tavington came over to the small group I was talking to, surprising us all.

"Martin, Wilkins, come with me." He said curtly, then turned and walked back the way he came. I exchanged a very confused look with Captain Wilkins and we hurried after Tavington. We followed him into his tent and he led us over to a map that was spread over a table.

"Do either of you know anything of Pembroke?" He asked and I began to get a sinking feeling in the pit of my stomach. I knew Captain Wilkins had grown up in Pembroke and my family's farm had been close to there.

"A bit. I only ever passed through there." Captain Wilkins lied smoothly.

"I have only been there a couple of times." I said, hoping my lie was as smooth.

"Could you get me there?" Tavington asked and I nodded as Captain Wilkins voiced his confirmation. Tavington got a dangerous look in his eye and said, "Good," then dismissed us from his tent.

"I cannot believe you lied like that." I said quietly once I was sure we were out of earshot of Tavington.

"You did as well." Captain Wilkins said.

"Yes, but I did not grow up there." I said.

"Well, I think he has something planned but I'm not sure what it is, nor do I know when he plans of doing it. I just hope it won't be anything too bad." He said.

"So do I." I said, then we quit talking about it as we rejoined the group.

"What was that about?" Bordon asked.

"Colonel Tavington just wanted to know something about the area." Captain Wilkins said, which seemed to be a good enough answer for everyone else since no one said anything else about it.

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Again, I apologize for the shortness, but I really just wanted to get this part up and don't really know where to go with this next, but I'll figure something out! I would love to hear what you all think about it! Thanks! :)


	14. Worries

Kept my promise! Here's chapter fourteen! I have re-watched the movie (it's actually the extended cut, I lost my copy of the original while back) and know what I want to do with this now! This is a little bit shorter than what I usually do, but you'll see what I've saved for the next couple of chapters. Enjoy! :)

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The next morning, I was woken up very rudely by Tavington storming into my tent.

"Get up, get ready. We are to meet up with a supply line going to headquarters." He said, then left as abruptly as he came. I sat there, confused, for a few moments before I got up and began to get ready. As I stepped out of my tent, I saw Captain Wilkins coming out of his.

"Captain Wilkins, might I ask you something?" I said as I approached him.

"Yes, of course." He said, pulling his gloves on.

"Why exactly are we going to meet up with a supply line?" I said.

"Recently supply lines have been intercepted by colonial militia. Along with the Dragoons, there are extra men that will be in the wagons in case the militia shows up again, and everyone is certain they will." He said as we walked to get our horses. I just nodded in understanding as everyone mounted their horses. We met up with the supply line about five miles away from the camp and followed out of sight of the road. We stopped when we heard a long whistle, one that I would know anywhere. I wished there was some way I could warn my father of what was about to happen. Before I knew what was happening, the Dragoons charged over the hill we were on, Tavington ordering me to stay where I was. As they started the charge, I heard guns firing and knew that I could not just stay where I was. I rode to the top of the hill to see what was going on and my father and his men began to run as the Dragoons got closer to them. I began to ride down the hill in hopes that just maybe I could get away from the Dragoons once and for all. I saw my father and Gabriel look at me, and I longed to be able to get away with them, but as I neared all the commotion, Tavington saw me and I knew I was in trouble. Eighteen of my father's men were captured as prisoners and were to hang in the next few days, and because of what I had done, Tavington put me in the makeshift jail with them at Fort Carolina, where Cornwallis had relocated. All of the men were surprised to see me there with them, but I mostly kept to myself, only talking to the Reverend every so often. On the second morning, he asked me about everything that had happened to me.

"Sarah, I was wondering if you would tell me what has happened to you since being with the Dragoons. I have noticed that you seem very distressed." The Reverend said, sitting down beside me.

"Oh, well, nothing really terrible yet, hopefully not ever. I just wish there was some way I could help Father and Colonel Burwell with this war, even if I am a prisoner to the Dragoons. This is really the first time I've felt like a prisoner through this whole war, though. The first time I was taken I stayed in the headquarters of Cornwallis and was treated well by most everyone and even had my own maid to help me with the everyday things. She was a spy for the Continental Army. I got away one night when I went back to headquarters by myself, Colonel Burwell met me in the woods and took me to the camp. By the next day Tavington had found me and as hard as Colonel Burwell tried to keep me with him, I knew I couldn't risk he or his men getting hurt and went with the Dragoons again, but this time I stayed in their camp. Thankfully I wasn't completely alone though, James Wilkins is with the Dragoons and for a while he was the only person I would ever talk to except for when Tavington insisted on questioning me again. Tavington had me lead he and his men through the woods and swamp since I know the area well and I was terrified of leading him straight to my father's camp, but I never did. I knew you were all out there, watching us. The first couple of days I had expected Father to give orders for an attack, but that never happened. Slowly I began to talk to the other Dragoons as well, none of them had ever done anything against me so I saw no reason why I shouldn't be polite to them. And now I'm here, a true prisoner and I will never get out this time." I said.

"Your father is a very clever man, he will find a way to get all of us out of here. Let us pray together, if you wish." He said to me. I nodded and he prayed with me for the safety of myself, the men, and my father for whenever he comes with a plan of getting us all out of here. The fourth day we were there, John Billings asked the Reverend to write a letter to his wife and son. I had grown more acquainted with the men by then and sympathized with John, knowing how much he cared for his wife and son.

"Yes, of course. But first let us pray." The Reverend said and began to pray. He started to end the prayer with "In the name of the Father, the Son-" but John Billings interrupted him, standing up and saying, "The Holy Ghost," which caught all of our attention. We all stood up and went over to the bars to see my father riding in the big gates of the fort carrying a white flag. He looked over to us and I could see the determination in him to get all of us out of that jail, including me. He went into the fort to discuss releasing us and all we could do was wait at that point. He came out with General O'Hara and we were all hopeful.

"Release the prisoners!" O'Hara said and I knew that I finally had my freedom, but O'Hara came over to where I was standing and said, "Not you." I stared at him, shocked, then looked over to where my father was. He wouldn't look at me and I knew then that no matter how hard he tried, he could not negotiate my release for anything. Tavington rode into the fort then and saw my father. I didn't see the confrontation between him and my father as the shock of what just happened hit me. The next time I looked up, Tavington had come over to where I was.

"You will come with me. You will not try to escape again and from now on your tent in the camp will be guarded day and night by one of my men. Do not argue with me on any of this, it will not do you any good." He said, then walked away. That night, he took me back to the camp and he went immediately to Captain Wilkins' tent, dragging me along with him.

"As you were." He said to the men as he stormed through the camp. Then said to Wilkins after waking him up, "Plantation, seven miles from Wakefield on the Santee east of Black Swan. Who lived there?"

"Benjamin Martin." Wilkins said and I really couldn't understand why Wilkins was being questioned with me standing right there.

"He's the Ghost." Bordon said.

"What do you know about him?" Tavington asked.

"Hell, everything. I could tell you the size of his boot." Wilkins said and I knew Tavington had a plan for something.

"Does he have family? Where would he hide his children?" Tavington said and my eyes went wide as I realized he meant to go looking at Aunt Charlotte's plantation.

"Well, there's one standing right behind you, why don't you ask her?" Wilkins said.

"I trust your answers far more than hers. She is not a Loyalist, you are." Tavington said.

Wilkins hesitated before saying, "His wife's sister has a plantation. It's not far."

At that point, Tavington dragged me to my tent and ordered one of his men to guard it while the rest of them were gone.

"You will stay in here until we get back. Do not try to escape again, you will suffer the consequences if you do." He said, then left with the rest of the Dragoons, heading for Aunt Charlotte's plantation. I wanted to try to escape again, but I knew it would be a bad idea, Tavington's wrath was no unknown to me, so I just had to sit there in my tent for the rest of the night until the Dragoons got back. I was sure it was at least midnight or later when I heard the beat of horse hooves on the ground, and I ran out of my tent, not caring about the guard posted outside. I saw Captain Wilkins walked back to his tent and confronted him.

"James, what happened?" I said.

"Sarah, go back in your tent." He said, refusing to look at me.

"James Wilkins you will tell me what happened! That was my aunt's plantation you all went to and she and my brothers and sisters were there and you know it!" I said.

"We could not find them in the house or anywhere around the house. I do not know what happened to them. We burned the plantation." He said still not looking at me. I gaped at him slightly, taken aback by this news. I wish I knew what had happened to my family, but I was sure that I wouldn't know until after the war ended.

"Sarah, I'm sorry. Now please, go back to your tent." Captain Wilkins said, finally looking at me and I could see the distress in his eyes. I walked slowly back to my tent and tried to go back to sleep, but I couldn't because my thoughts were plagued with thoughts of what could have happened to my family, whether they were alive or not, and what would happen to me now. I hoped that everyone was all right and that nothing would happen to me. I eventually fell into a fitful sleep, having nightmares of my family being harmed in ways I could never imagine possible.

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Thanks everyone for reading! I would love to hear your thoughts on this! And I was thinking about doing a few chapters after the end of the movie, put my own spin on what happens to everyone after the war. What would you all think about that?


	15. Interrogation

Chapter fifteen! Woo! So I would love to know what you all think about me continuing this story to after the war has ended, just to give some insight on what happens to everyone then. And I was thinking about having Sarah fight in that battle Tavington gets killed in (not gonna tell you what happens to her before then yet), but I'm not completely sure. I would love to know what you think! Enjoy! :)

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_I stood there, about twenty yards away from the rest of my family. I was so happy to see them, even my mother was there. I went to run to them, but before I could take a step, someone grabbed my arm roughly from behind me and I turned, staring up into the icy blue eyes of Colonel Tavington. Behind him I could see the rest of the Dragoons, except for Captain Wilkins; I was not sure where he was. Once he had a more than firm grip on my arm, Tavington nodded to his men and they moved forward toward my family on some silent order I was unaware of. I turned back around to face my family again and noticed that they were closer, about fifteen feet away now. Tavington's men moved closer to them, fear becoming evident in the faces of my family. It was then that I realized what was happening and I began to struggle against Tavington's grip. He backhanded me across the face, the blow sending me tumbling to the ground, then he grabbed my arm again, pulling me back up roughly, and threw me to someone else. I looked up to find Captain Wilkins holding me back. I looked to the ground behind him, tears already streaming down my face, and saw the most horrific thing I had ever seen. There, not even five feet away, was a body, mutilated in the worst way possible. My eyes grew wider than I ever thought possible when I realized who is was. As I stared at Colonel Burwell's body – I would know him anywhere – blood began pooling around him. I heard someone scream, then finally realized I had been the one to scream and began sobbing, Captain Wilkins struggling to keep me standing._

I woke up suddenly, sweating, and sat up quickly, tears streaming down my face and I began sobbing harder than I had been in that dream. I didn't hear anyone say my name or come into my tent, but after a moment I felt someone sit beside me and a pair of arms go around me. I looked over and saw Captain Wilkins beside me and images from the dream came flashing back and I sobbed even harder.

"Sarah, Sarah. What is the matter?" Captain Wilkins asked me and I just shook my head, not wanting to tell him about the dream. "Okay, okay. You don't have to tell me about it." He said, beginning to rock me back and forth. I calmed down eventually and fell back asleep, Captain Wilkins still holding me. The next time I woke up, I could heard voices outside my tent.

"Colonel, today may not be the best day." I heard Captain Wilkins say.

"And why is that?" Tavington said and I could tell he was sneering at Captain Wilkins. I sighed and got up, walking out of my tent.

"It's all right, James. What is it, Colonel?" I said.

"Good morning, Miss Martin. I hope you slept well?" Tavington said, being very polite to me, which made me very suspicious.

"Fine. What is it that you want?" I said.

"If you would please, come with me." He said and started walking away. I looked at Captain Wilkins and he just shrugged, knowing what Tavington wanted as much as I did, which was not at all. I hurried after Tavington and followed him into his tent where he led me over to a map of the surrounding area.

"Tell me, do you know who lives here?" He said, pointing to an area that I had visited frequently as a child.

"Yes." I answered simply, knowing that it would make him angry.

"And who is it that lives there?" He said, trying very hard to contain his anger.

"Colonel Harry Burwell." I said, trying not to let any emotion show.

"Does he have family?" Tavington asked me.

"No." I said.

"Oh?" He said, clearly not believing me.

"His wife died four or five years ago in childbirth. The child died soon after." I said.

"What sort of relationship do you have with the Colonel?" He asked.

"He is good friends with my father. That is all." I lied, hoping Tavington didn't already know about my being engaged to Colonel Burwell.

"Oh really? He seemed very reluctant to allow you to come with us. That is expected, of course, but not to the extent that he did. He also seemed very … protective of you." Tavington said and I could tell he was mocking me.

"I have no idea what you are talking about." I said crossing my arms and before I knew what was happening, Tavington hit me across the face.

"It is unwise to lie to me, Miss Martin. Now, if I understand correctly, you are recently engaged to Colonel Burwell, are you not?" He said.

"Yes." I said quietly, looking down.

"And when is this wedding scheduled to be?" He said, walking around me to the other side of the table with the map on it.

"There is not a scheduled date yet. We are waiting for the war to be over before we decide on anything." I said quietly.

"Ah, a wise choice. Especially since it is possible you could be left a widow after hardly a week of being married during this war." Tavington said, trying to rile me up. I chose not to answer that so he continued to question me. "Now, what are the whereabouts of your father and his men?"

"I do not know that kind of information." I said, not completely lying since I didn't know the exact location of them.

"Do you not? Now, I find that hard to believe. Where are they?" He said, getting angry with me.

"I said I don't know!" I said, also getting angry.

"Very well. What of your siblings? You aunt? They were not at the plantation when we got there." He said.

"I have no idea where they would have gone." I said truthfully, not knowing where they could have gone that would be safe.

"Finally, some truth. You really are not a very good liar, are you Miss Martin?" Tavington said from behind me and I knew that if I wasn't careful something bad would happen.

"Is that all you needed, Colonel?" I said, wanting to get out of there.

"Yes. You can go." He said and I hurried out of the tent and made my way back to my own tent, avoiding making eye contact with everyone I passed. I saw Captain Wilkins and Captain Bordon talking outside of Captain Wilkins' tent as I approached my own.

"Are you all right, Sarah?" Captain Wilkins asked me and I saw him looking at my cheek that was bright pink again after Tavington's blow.

"Fine. The Colonel just had a few questions to ask me." I said, hoping they wouldn't question it any further.

"What happened?" Captain Wilkins asked as he brought his hand up to the side of my face.

"Nothing." I said, pulling away from his touch.

"Sarah, what did he do to you?" Captain Wilkins asked me, much firmer this time.

"Nothing. All he did was hit me. Again." I said softly.

"Again? I have never known the Colonel to hit a woman like that before." Captain Bordon said, concern in his voice.

"I'm fine, really. Do not worry about me." I said and went into my tent before they could say anything else.

"Sarah?" Captain Wilkins said as he came into my tent after me.

"James, I told you I'm fine." I said, tears going down my face as I spoke.

"I needed to make sure you were going to be all right." He said, sitting beside me.

"I will be." I said, but he didn't leave.

"Are you willing to tell me about that dream last night?" He asked me tentatively. I had almost forgotten about the nightmare, but I then remembered it very clearly when he mentioned it.

"No, I don't think I will ever tell anyone. No one should have to see such horrific things." I said quietly.

"Well, all right. Will you at least tell me what Colonel Tavington questioned you about?" He said comfortingly.

"Just where my father was and where my brothers and sisters and Aunt Charlotte were, but I don't know. Not exactly anyway. I definitely don't know where my brothers and sisters and Aunt Charlotte are, but I do know the general vicinity of where my father is, I just don't want Tavington knowing that." I said.

"That's all?" he asked me.

"He also asked me if I knew where Colonel Burwell lives and showed me a place on the map. Of course, I do know where he lives, my parents would take me over there every so often when I was a child since he and his wife didn't have children of their own yet. Tavington also asked me if Colonel Burwell has any family, but he doesn't anymore since his wife died in childbirth, the child following soon." I said.

"But now he has you. And Colonel Tavington thinks he can use that to his advantage." Captain Wilkins said, realizing something that I wasn't aware of.

"I suppose so. If Harry was foolish enough to fall for something like that, but he's not. He would not come for me unless he was completely one hundred percent sure that I was in danger." I said.

"Colonel Tavington has a way of playing tricks of the mind with people. If he wants Colonel Burwell to think that you are truly in danger, he can do it. Do not underestimate the power he has." Captain Wilkins said warningly.

"So he really is as mean and cruel as everyone says. I never thought that anyone could be that evil." I said.

"Yes, well Colonel Tavington is definitely that." Captain Wilkins said, agreeing with me, then said, "I think the Colonel plans on going to Pembroke soon. He believes the people there are helping to supply your father and wants to find out where he is."

"Of course he does. My father is more clever than Tavington thinks I'm afraid. Even you know that." I said.

"Yes, I do. But that isn't something Colonel Tavington needs to know." Captain Wilkins said, then stood up to leave, saying, "I have some duties to attend to. I will see you later on, Sarah," and I nodded as he left my tent. I spent the rest of the day in my tent and fell into a fitful sleep that night, the dream coming back again and Captain Wilkins coming from his tent to comfort me again. I wasn't sure how much sleep I got that night, but I knew it wasn't much. I wasn't ready for the orders Tavington gave the next morning.

"Everyone ready their horses. We're moving out on a mission. Quickly!" I heard Tavington shout and sighed as I got up, not knowing what in the world we would be doing.

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Finally a chapter that's a little closer to the number of words I usually write! I would love to know what you all think of this! Thanks! :)


	16. Guilt

Chapter 16! So the questions from the first author's note in chapter 15 still apply and I REALLY need to know if you guys think she should fight since the next chapter will have that battle in it. Enjoy! :)

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"Sarah, do you have any idea what we're doing?" Captain Wilkins asked me as we all got our horses.

"No. But I have a really bad feeling about all of this." I said as we all mounted and headed out. Captain Wilkins stayed back with me and we both realized where we were going at the same time.

"James. Pembroke." I said, looking over at him with wide eyes and he just nodded silently. When we got to Pembroke, everyone there was going about their daily lives, but when they saw the Dragoons retreated back into their houses.

"Go gather everyone in the church. Bordon, Wilkins, Martin, you stay with me." Tavington said and all the Dragoons went to each house to tell everyone to get to the church. When almost everyone was in the church, I saw the Howards riding up. I rode over to them with Captain Wilkins.

"Everyone's been requested to gather at the church." Captain Wilkins said as the Howards stopped.

"Mr. Wilkins?" Mr. Howard said, recognizing James.

"Colonel Tavington wishes to address the whole village." Captain Wilkins said.

"Sarah, what's going on?" Anne asked me quietly from the back of the Howard's wagon.

"I don't know, but I have a bad feeling about all of this." I said.

"Oh, I suppose you do not know yet, but Gabriel and I have married. If you see before I do, could you tell him I love him?" Anne said, making me smile for the first time in a long while.

"Of course I will." I said, then the Howards started heading to the church again. Once everyone was in the church, we all gathered at the front and Tavington rode into the church on his horse, shocking everyone.

"What do you think he'll have everyone do?" I asked Captain Wilkins as Colonel Tavington addressed the people of the town.

"I am not sure. He will most likely order us to burn the town and then we'll leave." He said. Colonel Tavington came out of the church and Captain Wilkins said, "ready to fire the town on you orders, sir."

"The town? Burn the church." Tavington said with a smirk. I gasped and put a hand over my mouth.

Captains Wilkins looked at him in disbelief and said, "There's not honor in this."

"Didn't you say that all those who stand against England deserve to die a traitor's death?" Tavington said, and when he didn't get an answer said again, "Burn the church, Captain," and rode away from Captain Wilkins, giving him a dangerous look.

I could see the conflicting emotions on Captain Wilkins' face before he said, "Give me the torch," to a soldier standing on the ground. He rode forward slightly and looked up at the church, then down at the torch before throwing it up to the overhang above the doors and the pain was very clear on his face. We could heard the screams of everyone inside as they realized what was happening and tears began streaming down my cheeks, the look on Captain Wilkins' face as dead as many of my friends would be in a couple of hours.

"The honor is found in the end, not the means. This will be forgotten." Tavington said and I knew that it would be impossible for me, as well as James, to forget. We all just stood there waiting for orders from Tavington, and watched as the church burned. I rode up next to Captain Wilkins, a small sob escaping me, and I could see tears form in his eyes, a dead look still on his face. Tavington gave orders to ride out, but James wouldn't move.

"James, let's go." I said to him, but he wouldn't even look at me. Tears still streaming down my face, I took his face in my hands and made him look me in the eye saying, "James, we need to go. There is nothing we can do." I could see pain and guilt clearly on his face. He looked back at the church one more time, then nodded and we followed the Dragoons out of the town. A few miles from the town, we stopped near a creek to make a temporary camp for a couple of days. My tent was put up next to Captain Wilkins' like in the other camp, and he retreated into his tent, not coming out for the rest of the day. That night I couldn't sleep, but James' tent was close enough to mine that I could hear him tossing and turning in his sleep. As I was about to finally fall asleep, I heard James gasp and I knew that he had just woken up from a bad dream. I got up and silently made my way to his tent.

"James?" I said quietly just outside his tent and as I listened I could tell he was crying. I went into his tent without waiting for an answer and to see a man of his strength and stature (I estimated that he was about six feet and four inches tall, a whole foot taller than myself) crying the way he was, was heartbreaking. I hurried over to him and sat beside him, putting my arms around him and my head on his shoulder.

"James, it's all right. It's going to be all right." I said comfortingly and he turned to me, as if just realizing I was there.

"Sarah, you should be asleep." He said as if he hadn't just been sobbing his heart out in front of me.

"I couldn't sleep. Now what has you so worked up?" I said, knowing fully what was bothering him.

"I think you know what it is as well as I do." He said, tears still streaming down his face, then he continued, "And it's not all right, it will never be all right. They were my neighbors, my friends. And the church. I know now that I am forever damned for what I did and I will rot in Hell forever for it."

"No. No, James. That is not true. Not about you. Tavington, yes, but not you. You are not a bad person, James. You never have been and you never will be. You have to believe me." I said, making him look at me.

"I can't just believe you. I am the one that did that and I will never forgive myself." He said.

"You have to forgive yourself, James. It was not your fault. You are still a good person. You are still the same person you always were. The same person I have known almost my whole life. Please do not beat yourself up over this." I said. He didn't' say anything else, he just looked at me, and before I knew what he was doing, he kissed me. It was a very gentle kiss, but then I remembered Colonel Burwell and pushed him away, my eyes wide. "James –" I started, but he cut me off.

"I'm sorry, Sarah. I shouldn't have done that." He said quietly, looking down.

"No, you shouldn't have. I am engaged, James." I said and he looked at me, shocked.

"What?" He said.

"Yes, I am. To Colonel Burwell. You should get some sleep." I said and hurried out of his tent. I tried to go back to sleep, but found that very hard to do that night. The next morning, Captain Wilkins came into my tent. I sat up and was going to say something, but he began to speak first.

"Colonel Tavington is having me take a detachment back to camp this morning. He wants you to stay here." He said.

"Okay, thank you." I said. Later on in the morning after all of the tents had been taken down and we were just waiting for orders to ride out, I was washing some things in the creek and Tavington was a little ways off, shaving, when we heard horses heading out way. I stood up and saw some militia riding to where we were. Scared, I ran and hid behind a large tree as shots began being fired. When the firing stopped I peeked around the tree I was behind and saw someone leaning over Tavington with a knife in their stomach. After a moment, I realized who it was a gasped, quickly putting a hand over my mouth to muffle the sound, tears slowly going down my cheeks. Tavington threw Gabriel off of himself and looked around before running away from the camp, not even caring what happened to me at that point. Once I was sure Tavington was gone, I ran forward towards my brother, kneeling beside him and taking his hand, my tears falling freely now.

"Sarah?" He said quietly when he saw me.

"No, don't talk. Listen, I saw Anne before what happened in Pembroke. She told me you got married. I was so happy when she told me. And she wanted me to tell you that she loves you." I said and he tried to smile, but it turned out to be more of a grimace because of the pain I knew he was in. Not a moment later, I heard horses coming towards us and when I looked up I could see my father with some of his men. I moved out of the way so my father could speak to him, but I didn't hear what they were saying as one of the men took me into his arms as I cried, turning me away from the sight. I heard my father give a sob and turned to look at him, only then seeing all of the other men on the ground like the Reverend from Pembroke and Captain Bordon, then ran to my father, embracing him, and we held each other tightly as we cried. When my father stood back up, I turned towards Gabriel again and closed his eyes, noticing that they were open. I stood up and turned towards the men as they moved forward to get Gabriel's body. I was suddenly grateful they were all there as I moved towards my father.

"What will we do now?" I asked from behind him.

He took a deep breath and said, "We'll go to Colonel Burwell's camp. He may not be there, but it will be a safe place to go for now."

"All right." I said quietly.

"Sarah, you make me very happy, you know that, right?" Father said, turning to face me. I smiled and he continued, "To find you safe and unharmed means the world to me."

Soon, we all made our way to Colonel Burwell's camp and though he wasn't there, I was just glad to be safe again and was anxious for his return.

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Well, this chapter was hard to write. Lots of emotion going on. If you didn't read the author's note above, it's IMPORTANT, as is the first one in the last chapter, it's critical to the progression of this story. Let me know what you thought about this chapter! Thanks! :)


	17. The Calm Before The Storm

Okay so the battle isn't in this chapter, but it will be in the next one for sure! I just didn't realize how long this chapter would be. Enjoy! :)

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Some of the militia carried Gabriel's body to a tent, me and my father following them and we just say by his body, not feeling the need to say anything. Early the next morning, I heard a familiar voice outside the tent.

"Where is he?" Colonel Burwell asked someone outside, apparently not knowing I was there too, and I hurried out of the tent, rushing into his arms and nearly knocking him over.

"Sarah! Why didn't any of you tell me she was here?" He said to the militia men standing there.

"We didn't know it mattered so much." Jean said, clearly confused about why it mattered.

"Of course it matters! Don't any of you know that we are engaged?" Colonel Burwell said, still holding me, and the men shook their heads. It was then that I realized that I wasn't sure if I had told my father about the engagement yet. Colonel Burwell pulled of me off to the side, noticing that I had started crying again.

"Sarah, are you okay?" He asked me.

"I'm fine. Ugh, I just feel like I can never stop crying. This isn't like me." I said, wiping the tears out of my eyes.

"You know, I would be more worried if you weren't crying right now. So are you okay? You weren't hurt or anything?" He asked me.

"No, I'm fine. The worst thing Tavington did to me was hit me, but I'm okay now." I said. He nodded grimly and I led him into the tent where my father was.

"I'll help you bury him." He said to my father as we walked into the tent.

"I'll bury him." Father said.

"Benjamin, nothing will replace you son, but if you come with us you can justify his sacrifice." Colonel Burwell said, then added, "I know this may not be the best time to tell you this, but Sarah accepted my marriage proposal."

My father spoke as if he hadn't heard the last part saying, "Why do men feel they can justify death? Is it arrogance? I have long feared that my sins would return to visit me, and the cost is more than I can bear."

"Benjamin, we have a chance. Greene and Dan Morgan are down from Virginia, if we win this next battle, victory in the war is within our grasp." Colonel Burwell said.

"Go then. Seek your victory. I am small issue to it." Father said.

"You're wrong, Ben. You matter to you men, your daughter, and to others as well. Your victories and your losses are shared by more than you know. Stay with us, stay the course." Colonel Burwell said and I gave him a small smile for his encouraging little speech to my father.

My father turned slowly to face Colonel Burwell and said, "I have run my course," then turned back towards Gabriel's body again. Colonel Burwell sighed and exited the tent and I followed him. He walked over to Jean and said, "You men will be moving out with us." Jean turned to the men to tell them to prepare to leave. I followed Colonel Burwell over to where his horse stood.

"What should I do now?" I asked him.

"Whatever you want, I suppose." He said.

"Harry, I … I want to fight. For Gabriel." I said, looking down.

"Sarah, I cannot let you do that. Look at me." He said and lifted my chin up, making me look at him, and continued, "You know I have to say no to that."

I glared at him slightly and said, "You realize that when I believe in something strongly and know that I can do something about it, I will find a way to do it, right?"

"Sarah, please. This is not something you can do anything about. Just stay here until we all return." He said with a sigh. I sighed heavily and started walking away. I could hear him following me and he grabbed my arm, turning me around. I could tell he was going to say something, but I glared at him, daring him to say anything, and he let my arm go, letting me walk away. When I got to the tent my father was in, he walked out of it.

"We'll bury him once the sun begins to rise." He said, then walked by me. I walked into the tent and sat beside Gabriel's body, putting my elbows on my knees and my face in my hands. I sighed and said, "You know, Gabe, I never got to tell you that Colonel Burwell proposed and I accepted. I wish you could be here for that." I didn't expect and answer, of course, but I felt a hand on my shoulder and looked back to see Colonel Burwell standing behind me, "What?" I said icily, not wanting to talk to him at that point.

"Sarah, please don't be angry with me. I –" He said and I cut him off.

"Will you please leave. I don't' want you here right now." I said in the same tone and his hand fell from my shoulder. "Wait. I'm sorry. You don't have to leave." I said, standing up and turning around. He stopped and turned to face me, then walked over to me.

"I just want to keep you safe, you know that." He said quietly, putting a loose strand of hair behind my ear and I leaned into his touch.

"I know. I just feel like I should do something." I said, putting my hands on his waist and my head against his chest.

"I don't know if there is anything you can do. By the way, how long have you been wearing that?" He asked me, noticing that my dress was getting a bit worn out.

"Too long. I think Father said Gabriel had some extra clothes in one of his bags, they should fit." I said, then, seeing the look on his face, said, "Harry, I've worn my brothers clothes before, don't worry."

"And your father is okay with that?" He said.

"Harry, I grew up with three brothers before my sister Margaret was born and I was thirteen by that time. I couldn't run around in the woods like I used to with a dress on. It will be fine. Besides, Father probably won't even notice." I said, crossing my arms. He just shook his head and chuckled, then kissed me and left the tent, giving me time to change. I quickly changed into some of Gabriel's clothes before my father came back. They were a little big on me, but I didn't mind that.

"I see you've changed." I heard my father say from behind me and when I turned around he actually had a small smile on his face.

"I needed to get out of that dress." I said simply.

"I'm going to go bury him, do you want to come?" He said.

"I'll be there in a moment. I need to go find Harry." I said.

"All right. I'll just be going up the hill over there." Father said and I knew where he was talking about. It didn't take me long to find Colonel Burwell, he was in his tent preparing for the departure of the troops. His back was facing me when I went into his tent so I just went up to him and wrapped my arms around him from behind.

"I really hope that's Sarah back there." He said and I could tell he was smiling.

"Of course it is." I said, my voice muffled by his back, and I could feel him laugh more that I could hear him. I let go of him as he turned to face me and he smiled down at me, putting his hand up to my face.

"Be careful out there." I said, looking into his eyes.

"Of course." He said.

"Promise me that you will come back to me, unharmed and all in one piece." I said.

"I promise." He said and kissed me, his arms going around my waist as my arms went around his neck. I pulled away from him and said, "I should go to my father," and he nodded, understanding that I was needed elsewhere. When I found my father, he had just begun to fill the grave with dirt. I stayed back to where I could still see the troops and once they had moved out I went over to my father. He had just finished burying Gabriel and grabbed the two bags Gabriel had, taking them over to his horse, and pulled out a flag that had been patched up.

"Did Gabriel do this?" I asked.

"Yes, he did." Father said and got a look in his eye that I knew well. "Come on. We need to catch up to them. You can take Gabriel's guns." He said, then handed me a hat to put on and put my hair up in.

"Wait, are you actually going to let me go with you?" I asked, following my father back down the hill.

"I know there's nothing I can do to stop you." He said and handed me Gabriel's rifle and pistol, then continued, "Just stay behind me and once everyone's attention is on me, fall in with the militia. You'll have to walk once we catch up to everyone, but I'm sure you can handle it." I nodded and began trying to get my hair into the hat, it proving to be much more difficult than I thought it would be, but eventually I got it up there and we headed towards the direction I saw the troops go. We caught up to them just before the middle of the day and as my father rode up to the front, I silently fell in behind the militia at the back, shouts of "Huzzah!" going up and down the line. That evening, once we had joined up with another camp, all of the officers were discussing the battle plan for the next day and I couldn't help but overhear.

"Tomorrow's battle can alter the course of the war. General Greene, what exactly is the task before us?" Colonel Burwell said.

"Gentlemen, Cornwallis has us cornered, not only does he outnumber us, but nearly half of our force is militia. Unreliable, at best." General Greene said an my father caught me watching before he spoke.

"Excuse me, sir. I believe you underestimate out militia. All of you do." He said.

"We've seen out militia lines break time and again. Kips Bay, Princeton." General Greene said.

"But the British has seen that too. Cornwallis' own letters bear out that he has not respect for the militia. None whatsoever." My father said.

"What are you suggesting, Ben?" Colonel Burwell said.

"I'm suggesting we use that. I have recently found the best marksman I know. They're even better than I am." My father said and everyone gave him very confused looks. He turned towards me and motioned for me to go over there. I kept my head down as I walked forward, not saying anything.

"Who is this?" General Greene asked, trying to look at my face. I got scared when my father reached up to remove the hat from my head and heard a collective gasp as my hair spilled down my back and over my shoulders.

"A woman?" General Greene said in shock and I slowly began to raise my head up to look at everyone.

"Not just any woman. My daughter." Father proudly and I didn't dare to look at Colonel Burwell.

"Sarah, come with me." I heard Colonel Burwell say and my father nodded for me to go with him as the rest of the men discussed what had just happened. I followed Colonel Burwell to his tent and as soon as we got inside he turned on me.

"You should not be here. This is stupid." He said, pacing the length of the tent.

"Harry, I can fight. I am a fair shooter and I don't mind getting up close and personal with a few redcoats." I said defensively.

"Sarah, you are a woman. You cannot fight. How old are you? Twenty-eight? You have your whole life ahead of you, you shouldn't risk it." He said, his voice rising in volume.

"I turned twenty-nine last week." I said quietly, looking down. Looking back up I said, "I can and will fight. Because I have a brother that can no longer do so. Do not think you can stop me. Besides, what would my life be if I didn't have you? You could die just as easily as I could out there, but if I have anything to say about it, I won't let anything happen to you if I can help it." I said, stepping in front him while he paced, chest to chest with him.

"But why?" He asked me, exasperated.

"Because, Harry, I – I love you." I said and stormed out of his ten to mine, tears streaming down my face. I could feel everyone staring at me as I hurried to my tent, but I didn't care, I just wanted to be alone. When I got in my tent, I just sat on the ground, crying. I saw the light shift as someone came into my tent, by I didn't turn to see who it was. What I didn't expect was for someone to walk in front of me, hoist me up to my feet, and kiss me with so much passion and so much force that I was momentarily dumbfounded. When I realized what was happening, I kissed him back just as passionately and just as forcefully as he was me and a fire grew inside of me that I never knew was there before, but I pulled away before things could get out offhand. I looked at him for a moment, both of us breathing hard, and said, "What the hell was that!?" He gave me a very confused look as I sat down on my cot.

"What do you mean? Do you not remember what you said to me just a few moments ago?" He said.

"Of course I do." I scoffed.

He kneeled down in front of me, taking my hands in his, and said, "Sarah, you make me the happiest man alive and I love you, more than you will ever know."

"And do you not remember what our whole conversation was about before I said that?" I said quietly, trying not to let his words affect me the way we both knew they were.

"Sarah, you never cease to amaze me. I supposed there isn't anything I can do to stop you from fighting and I won't try." He said, his hand on my face.

"No, there isn't anything you can do to stop me. My father realized that this morning." I said.

"Gabriel's?" He asked, seeing the guns in the corner of my tent. I just nodded, tears forming in my eyes again at the thought of Gabriel and Colonel Burwell brushed away the tears that had found their way down my cheeks.

"I miss him." I said, looking down.

"I know you do. But now you should get some sleep, we'll be moving out early tomorrow." He said and I nodded. He kissed me one more time and left my tent, but sleep didn't come easily that night.

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So what did you think of the action between Sarah and Harry? Let me know what you think! Thanks! :)


	18. The Battle

Hey look, chapter 18! I'm kind of proud for actually going through with something I've put up here. As some of you may or may not know, I have two other stories up that I just never got around to continuing, so to be at chapter 18 on this one is huge. Enjoy! :)

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We all woke up very early the next morning to prepare for the upcoming batter. I sat outside my tent anxiously, cleaning Gabriel's rifle and pistol.

"Sarah, I forgot to tell you last night, the militia are firing the first two shots today." My father said, walking over to me. I just nodded, concentrating on what I was doing. When I was finished with the guns, I grabbed my hat and began to put my hair up in it. I saw Colonel Burwell on his horse and walked over to him.

"Morning, Colonel." I said, looking up at him.

"Good morning, Sarah. You know, I never realized how much you look like Gabriel until now." He said.

"Yes, I know. Except my hair is brown, of course. It was worse when we were younger." I said.

"I think I do remember that. You should go get ready to move out." He said and rode away, the stress he was under very evident.

"Captain, let's go. You'll be beside me on the move." My father said from behind me and I turned to face him.

"Captain?" I asked.

"Of course. Besides, I can keep an eye on you better that way." Father said with a chuckle. I just rolled my eyes and went back to gathering everything I would need for the battle. Around dawn we began moving out. I rode behind my father, Colonel Burwell, and Jean as we approached the battlefield, pulling up next to my father when we stopped.

"Nervous?" He asked me and I just nodded with a gulp, not knowing what to expect with this battle. We dismounted and joined the militia, beginning to march forward to meet the British. I took a deep breath as we stopped and the whole first shot was a blur to me, but I hoped I had hit someone. The British fired their shot and I was terrified as I reloaded, men around me falling to the ground. Then my worst nightmare came true as I saw Dragoons charging towards us. We fired out second shot and when my father saw the Dragoons yelled to retreat, but I knew they would catch up to us. Canons were being fired all around us one dangerously close me, but I kept on running. I could tell the redcoats were charging us. As we went over a hill, there were more lines of regulars and we slid to the ground in front of them for their shot at the British coming over the hill after us. We shot again as the regulars reloaded, then charged the redcoats. Everyone stopped as more redcoats came over the hill, then charged after they made a shot. As I was fighting a redcoat, I saw my father look at someone and I saw Tavington a ways off, and I knew my father would go after him. Many of the men began to retreat, but my father ran forward and took the flag, yelling for everyone to hold the line and a new sense of hope went through everyone and I began fighting even more vigorously than before. We charged back over the hill to face the rest of the redcoats and I knew then that all hope was lost for the British in this war. The next time I saw my father, he was charging towards Tavington, flag still in hand. I just stood there watching, wincing when the flag impaled Tavington's horse (I really did not see why innocent animals like horses always had to be involved in wars), throwing Tavington a few yards away. I watched as Father pulled out his last bullet and loaded his pistol, aiming the shot that would kill Tavington, but a canon went off behind him, making him miss and shoot Tavington in the arm. A redcoat came charging at me and I soon found myself standing a few feet in front of my father, he on his knees and Tavington ready to swing his saber.

"Kill me before the war is over, will you? It appears that you are not the better man." I heard Tavington say and he began the swing of his saber that would kill my father, but Father turned and stabbed a bayonet attached to a gun into Tavington's stomach, then picked up a stray bayonet and stood up. Tavington caught sight of me and I took my hat off, letting my fair fall around me, and took great satisfaction in the shocked look on Tavington's face. My father put the bayonet up to Tavington's throat and said, "You're right. My son was a better man," but I couldn't watch my father put the bayonet through Tavington's throat, ending his life. Then the fighting stopped as the redcoats began to retreat. We had won, the course of the war was altered and I knew then that we would win. Colonel Burwell came to find me and picked me up, spinning me around once, before setting me back down and kissing me. That night, all of the men were celebrating, but I decided to stay in my tent.

"Sarah?" I heard my father say and he came into my tent. "Everyone is being given two weeks furlough. I'm going to take you to the freed slave island where everyone else is, you'll be safe there. I believe Colonel Burwell will be joining us for these two weeks." He said and I perked up at that. My father laughed and said, "I thought that might make you happy," then left as Colonel Burwell came in.

"You're coming with us?" I asked as he sat beside me.

"Yes. I thought maybe the wedding could take place during these two weeks?" He said, taking my hand.

"Oh. I'm not sure." I said uncertainly, then when I saw the look on his face, added quickly, "It's not that I don't want to, you know I really do, I'm just afraid of losing you."

"Have I not promised you that I will come back to you?" He said.

"Yes. Well, okay. I'll go tell my father." I said with a smile and got up to find my father. "Father, Harry and I have decided to marry during the furlough." I said when I found him.

"That's wonderful, Sarah!" He said with a smile, hugging me.

The next morning me, my father, and Colonel Burwell were the last three people to leave. I rode with Colonel Burwell, Father riding beside us.

"Oh, Sarah, I forgot to tell you, Susan talks now." Father said as we rode.

"She does?" I said with a smile and he nodded. I was definitely very excited to see my brothers and sisters again. As we approached the island, I saw Thomas stand up and was too impatient to see everyone so I jumped off the horse and started running towards him. My other siblings gathered around him, curious, and when I got to them, I threw my arms around Thomas as he caught me in a hug.

"Sarah!" He said excitedly and I let go, hugging everyone else. They had all grown a lot, Thomas was bigger than Gabriel had been, but I didn't see Susan anywhere.

"Where's Susan?" I asked, then saw her hugging Father. "Susan?" I said and she turned at my voice and ran towards me. As she got to me, I got to my knees and just held her to me, tears of joy streaming down my face as being reunited with my brothers and sisters. Susan had a very special place in my heart since I had to basically raise her (with help from Abigaile, of course) when she was born.

"Sarah, why did you go?" She asked me, also crying.

"Oh, Susan, I didn't. I was kidnapped. But I'm here now." I said and picked her up. Honestly, I was old enough to have been Susan's mother because I was twenty-three when she was born. They all led me to where they had been staying and Abigaile and Aunt Charlotte were both in there, working on some sewing.

"Sarah?" Aunt Charlotte said, putting down what she was doing and rushing over to me. I set Susan down and hugged Aunt Charlotte and Abigaile.

"Lord have mercy, child, what do you have on?" Abigaile said and I laughed, knowing she would just fuss over what I was wearing until I changed into a dress.

"I'll find you something to change into in a little while. Colonel Burwell is here?" Aunt Charlotte said, changing the subject.

"Yes we have decided to have our wedding ceremony here." I said with a smile and was met with the excited babble of everyone else.

"Oh that's wonderful! Please let me and Abigaile make the dress." Aunt Charlotte said, some of her proper Charles Town ways still sticking with her.

"Of course." I said, still smiling.

That night I slept with my whole family around me and Colonel Burwell on an extra makeshift bed close by. Sometime in the middle of the night, I woke up with a gasp, the last thing I remembered from my dream being the cold, lifeless blue eyes of Colonel Tavington. Susan wasn't on top of me anymore, so I sat up and put my hands over my face, trying to calm myself down. I looked over and saw Colonel Burwell sitting up as well, his back facing me. Very, very carefully I got up and walked over to him, getting behind him and putting my arms around him and my chin on his shoulder.

"Are you all right?" I asked him, hoping not to wake anyone up.

"Fine. Can't sleep." He said, but I could tell something else was bothering him.

"What's really bothering you?" I said.

"I just wish you didn't have to see that battle yesterday. I know that when you just woke up it was from a dream about that." He said, looking over at me.

"I'll be fine. Don't worry about me." I said, but really all of the horrible things I had seen the previous day did make an impression on me and I knew it would be hard for me to sleep for a while. "You should get some sleep." I then said, taking my arms from around him. He turned and kissed me, snaking an arm around my waist.

"Stay over here with me?" He said and I looked over to where my family was asleep and noticed that Nathan had rolled over to the spot I had been in. I laughed a little bit, then nervously said "Okay." I don't remember when I fell asleep, I had stayed up talking to Colonel Burwell for a while, but when I woke up I was curled up next to him, his arm around me tightly. I looked over and say my father watching us. My face got hot as it turned very red and I looked away, embarrassed. Once everyone was up and had already eaten, Aunt Charlotte came over to me, the look on her face one that I knew well.

"So. Last night." She said.

"Oh, um, I woke up from a bad dream, Harry was awake, I made sure he was all right, we talked for a while, and I just fell asleep. I'm not even sure when." I said simply, trying not to get too embarrassed. Aunt Charlotte just gave me a look, making me laugh, and I went outside, seeing what I could do. Unintentionally, I found my way over to where Colonel Burwell was and sat beside him.

"Your father just had a talk with me." He said.

"Of course he did." I muttered.

"Don't worry, it wasn't anything bad. He was very understanding, actually. He heard you wake up last night and was okay with you coming to me for comfort. You will be my wife soon anyway." He said.

"Oh, well,, that's good then." I said, surprised.

The rest of the day went by slowly and I knew I would be safe with my siblings and Aunt Charlotte. That afternoon, Aunt Charlotte came over to me with a dress and it was only then that I realized I still had on Gabriel's old clothes.

"Here, Sarah, you can wear this. I think it will fit you." She said, handing me the dress.

"Thank you." I said and went to change into it. It was a very simple dress and fit me well, which I was grateful for.

"There, now you look like your normal self." Aunt Charlotte said when I finished changing.

"I might look like my normal self, but I don't feel like my normal self. War changes people. I'm not sure if it's always entirely for the better either." I said.

"You are still the same Sarah that you have always been. Now you've just seen some things that no one should ever have to see and you've been through a lot. If anything, I would say that all that has changed is that you have gotten stronger." She said encouragingly. I smiled at her and then Susan came to pull me away for a game she was playing. As I was playing with my sister, I caught Colonel Burwell watching me and smiled at him.

"Sarah, do you love him?" I heard Susan say and when I looked down at her she was looking at me expectantly.

"Yes, yes I do." I said, going down to her level.

"You're getting married, right?" she asked me.

"Yes, hopefully one day next week." I said.

"That's going to feel weird." Susan said and I laughed.

"It is for me too. But we'll all get used to it." I said.

"Where will you live when all of this is over?" She asked me.

"Colonel Burwell has a very nice home that isn't far from our old house. I think Father plans to rebuild the house, so I can come visit you all every day. I promise I won't forget about any of you." I said. Susan just smile and ran off to play some more and I followed her, trying to keep up.

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Let me know what you all thought! I really need some reviews so that I know if anyone that reads this actually likes it. And it gives me more motivation to continue this. Thanks! :)


	19. Planning

Welcome to chapter 19! You all get to see a different side of Colonel Burwell in this chapter, let me know what you think about it! And I just wanted to say that I decided to write this story because there are always characters that I think should be liked more than they are, and he just happened to be the one in The Patriot that came to mind, so out popped this story. Enjoy! :)

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That evening I finally had a few moments to myself to think about everything that had happened in the past couple of days. I had lost my brother to Tavington, escaped my imprisonment, fought in a battle where I killed more redcoats that I cared to count, watched as my father killed the one man he hated the most in the world, I was going to get married next week, and I was finally safe with my family. All I had to do was wait for the war to end.

"Sarah? Are you all right?" I heard someone ask and looked up to find Margaret walking towards me and it was only then that I realized I was crying again.

"I'm okay. Just thinking." I said, quickly wiping the tears off of my face.

"Were you there? When Gabriel died?" My sister asked me quietly.

"Yes, I saw it happen. Do you want to know what the last thing I told him was?" I said and when she nodded said, "I told him that I had seen Anne and that she wanted me to tell him that she loved him. You should have seen the way his face lit up when I said that." I said with a small smile, then added, "But they're together now and there isn't anything that could tear them apart."

"Are you worried about marrying Colonel Burwell?" Margaret said.

"Very. There is always that chance of being a widow before this war ends." I said with a sigh.

"You won't, though. He'll be all right." Margaret said.

I gave her a small smile and said, "You're right. Go on back outside, I'll be there in a moment," and she went back outside. Suddenly I was thinking about James Wilkins, wondering if he was still alive, and I knew I had to tell Harry about what happened. I was about to get up and find him when he walked in.

"There you are." He said with a smile. I noticed that he didn't have his army uniform on and it made me happy to see him so relaxed.

"Harry, there's something I need to tell you." I said and his smile faded, I continued quietly, "Well, while I was with the Dragoons, James Wilkins sort of developed feelings for me and one night he sort of kissed me."

"Wait, he _kissed_ you? There isn't any 'sort of' about that." He said and when I didn't say anything he said quietly, "You let him."

"What? No! No, I did _not_ let him!" I said, but I knew I had let him kiss me longer than I should have.

"I can't believe this. I cannot believe this." Colonel Burwell said and started pacing.

"Harry, please. I'm sorry. I –" I started, but he cut me off, getting angry.

"Sarah! This is not a matter as simple as just mixing up some livestock or something. You kissed another man! A decent person doesn't do something like that! We are engaged, Sarah. Did you even think of that?" He said, still pacing, and his words cut into me like a sharp knife.

"Of course I did, Harry. Please, just listen –" I started, but he cut me off again.

"No, I heard what you had to say." He said.

"Harry, please just listen to me. Let me explain." I said, walking over to him.

"You have nothing to explain to me." He said angrily and walked back outside. I sat back down and put my face in my hands, trying (and failing) not to cry. I just knew I had lost the man I loved and I could almost feel my heart break into a million little pieces. I got up and went outside, needing some fresh air, and Aunt Charlotte came to find me.

"I just saw Colonel Burwell. What happened? He looked a little angry." She said, walking over to me.

"Nothing, just a little bit of a misunderstanding. I just need to give him some space." I said, forcing out a smile, but for the rest of the day he wouldn't talk to me. That night I just lay there, Susan on top of me again, Margaret on my left, and William on my right, everyone else around us. I sighed and looked over to Colonel Burwell. He was lying on his back, staring up at the ceiling, and wouldn't even look at me. Things went on that way for the next two days and then I'd had enough. I found him sitting by the water alone and decided to confront him.

"Harry, we need to talk." I said from behind him, my hands on my hips.

"We have nothing to talk about." He said and I winced at how cold his voice was.

"Harry, you don't understand." I said, but he would even so much as look at me, so I walked around him and knelt in front of him, taking his hand, though he just pulled it away. "Harry, look at me. I have told you that I love you. _You._ No one else, especially not James Wilkins. Please, you have to trust me." I said, pleading with him.

"That is a very hard thing for me to do right now. I don't think we should get married." He said and stood up, walking to the small house we had all been staying in. I stood up, shocked, then went after him. He was standing at a window and I cautiously walked up behind him, trying to stay strong and not chicken out on this.

"Harry, please don't do this. I did not kiss James Wilkins, he kissed me. I pushed him away from me and walked away as quickly as I could." I said.

He sighed and turned to face me. "The deed is done. There is no taking it back. I cannot go into a marriage knowing that happened." He said, looking down.

I sighed, knowing that what I was about to say would be harsh, but I needed to get through to him somehow. "Harry, think about this, you were married before. You almost had a child, but they were both taken from you. We would not even be together if your wife and son had survived. I could easily say I couldn't marry you because of that, but I haven't and I won't. Why? Because I love you, and I can see that you feel the same way. Don't let something so small get in the way of us." I said and if looks could kill, I would've been dead when he looked at me.

"I don't even know what to say to you right now." He said and I knew I had crossed a line. I just stood there, not sure what to do, and he slowly stepped towards me.

"I should not have said that." I mumbled to myself, getting very nervous.

"Do you know how long it has been since I lost my wife?" He asked me.

"Five or six years?" I said, not exactly sure which one it was.

"Yes. And do you know what has happened in that time?" He said and his voice was dangerously low.

"No." I said simply.

"Three years ago, I saw you again for the first time in years, and I was honestly surprised at how you had grown into a very beautiful woman. In these three years, we have written to each other, had our own little moments, and now here we are, less than a week from getting married. Now tell me, do you think that for a moment I have thought of anyone but you in these past three years?" He said. I had never seen him so angry before and it was truly terrifying. To see anyone in that kind of rage and be so calm would scare anyone.

"I would hope not." I said.

"I have not, and I never will. Right now there is you, and only you, and you need to understand that." He said.

"You know I only have eyes for you." I said quietly.

"Only time can tell the truth of that." He said and started walking away from me.

"Harry, please don't pull away from like this. I need you." I said quietly and he stopped, glancing back at me.

"I am not pulling away from you. I am giving you time. Time to think about everything. We will proceed with the wedding, but you still must prove to me that I am not a fool for falling in love with you." He said and walked out. I just stood there for a moment, not sure what to do, and was only pulled out of my thoughts when Susan tugged on my hand for me to go play with her and some of the other children.

"What are you worrying about?" Susan asked me when she noticed I wasn't paying attention to anything we were doing.

"What? Oh, nothing." I said, knowing that she wouldn't believe me.

"You had an argument." She said and I knew she was talking about with Colonel Burwell.

"More of a misunderstanding, but everything will be all right. I hope." I said.

"Are you still going to marry him?" She asked me.

"Of course. We just need some time to, well, I'm not even sure what." I said.

"You'll figure it out." She said with a smile.

Early that evening I was with Aunt Charlotte and Abigaile, talking about the wedding, and though I knew they noticed something was bothering me, they didn't say anything to me. I tried to pay attention to what they were saying, but found it very difficult with what had happened earlier.

"Sarah, I need to speak with you." I heard Colonel Burwell say behind me and turned to look at him, seeing that he didn't look angry with me, but that could have been for the sake of Aunt Charlotte and Abigaile. I excused myself and followed him outside where we walked along the shoreline. I was the first to speak.

"It's very nice out tonight." I said lamely, just trying to make conversation.

"Tell me what happened when he kissed you." Colonel Burwell said, surprising me.

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"I want to know why James Wilkins kissed you." He said simply.

"Oh. Well, that particular day was when Tavington ordered him to burn the church in Pembroke. With everyone inside." I said quietly and I heard him sigh beside me.

"Is that what some of your nightmares have been about?" He asked me and I wasn't completely sure how he knew I had nightmares almost every night.

"Sometimes. Then sometimes they're about the battle, or seeing you and my family get hurt. I don't think I've had the same nightmare twice." I said, and it was true. Many of them were similar, but never the same thing.

"I did not know that you were there the day the church burned." He said, his voice warmer now, completely the opposite of what it had been earlier that day.

"I wish I had never seen it." I said, looking down as we walked. He stopped and turned me to face him.

"I apologize for the way I treated you today. You have done nothing to deserve that." He said and I slowly looked up at him.

"Thank you." I said, but I couldn't smile, not after what I had said earlier. "I should apologize too. I should have never said what I did." I said, looking back down.

"Don't apologize. You had every right to say that. And I know it is something you will think about every day, but that is to be expected." He said and I nodded.

"I should get back, there is a lot to be done before next week." I said.

"Of course. I will see you tonight." He said and kissed me, then I went back to Aunt Charlotte and Abigaile. I sat down with a heavy sigh.

"What was that all about?" Aunt Charlotte asked me.

"We just had a misunderstanding earlier. Everything has been cleared up though." I said, forcing a smile. I was still worried about what I had said to him earlier.

"There is something that is really bothering you." Abigaile said.

"Just something I said to Harry earlier today." I said, then added quietly, "I sort of brought up his wife and son. They've been gone for five or six years now. I'm not even sure why I said it."

When no one said anything I looked up and they were just looking at me. "Please don't look at me like that. Everything's fine now, it just still bothers me that I said it." I said.

Aunt Charlotte was the first one to recover. "Speaking of which, have you decided what you want to name your first child? I know that's a ways off, but it's still something to think about." She said and I smiled, not having to force it this time.

"If it's a boy, Gabriel. I haven't thought about any girls names yet, but I think Elizabeth would be nice. That way the child is named after someone I loved dearly, no matter the gender." I said.

"I should have known you would come up with those names. One after your brother and one after your mother." Aunt Charlotte said with a smile.

"Of course." I said.

That night, the nightmare of the battle came back, the same one I had the first night on the island. I woke up with a gasp again, and tears were already streaming down my face. Thomas had been beside me and woke up when I did.

"Sarah, what's wrong?" He said, noticing I was crying.

"Nothing, just a nightmare. I'm fine." I said, wiping the tears off of my face.

"What was it about?" He asked, sitting up beside me.

"The battle I was in. Thomas, please don't get caught up in this war. It will end soon enough and I don't want you to see the horrors I did. No one should ever have to see that." I said.

"I wanted to for a while, but after you got kidnapped, I knew I had to stay with everyone since you couldn't." He said and I smiled at him and hugged him. It didn't take me long to fall back asleep and I didn't wake up again until the next morning. The next few days went by calmly, but then the chaos started. Aunt Charlotte and Abigaile were hurrying to finish my dress for the wedding, we were anxiously waiting to hear back from the Reverend we sent a letter to, asking if he would provide the ceremony (it was the Reverend Thomas from Charles Town we asked, since he knew Aunt Charlotte and had married her to John Selton all those years ago), and all of my brothers and sisters wanted to help with whatever they could for the wedding. I had almost had all I could take one day when I finally got a calm moment to myself late one evening. I sighed and sat on a bench, just looking out over the water. It was a beautiful day and I had been running around all day trying to get things done. Someone sat down beside me, facing the opposite way I was, and I looked over to find Colonel Burwell had joined me.

"This wedding can hurry up and be done with. I might go crazy from running around trying to get things done." I said and he laughed.

"I would have to agree, but for a different reason." He said, and I knew exactly what he was suggesting.

"Colonel! You shock me! I think I can presume that is the only reason you want to marry me." I said, suppressing a laugh.

"Of course not. I'm not a pig like some men. It just happens to be one of the perks of marriage." He said and I couldn't hold in my laughter any longer. He just looked at me as if I was crazy.

"Well, that may have to be put on hold until the war is over. It might be a little hard to do with my whole family in the same room." I said and he chuckled.

"Yes, that would prove to be a problem. What did Gabriel and Anne do when they got married here?" He asked me.

"I have no idea. I wasn't here for that. I was in custody of the Dragoons, remember?" I said.

"Ah yes, of course. I'm sure someone around here knows, though." He said and I smacked his arm playfully.

"Tread carefully, that is my brother and sister-in-law you're talking about." I said, smiling.

"He would be proud of you, you know. Gabriel. I think all of your siblings are proud to call you their older sister." He said.

"None of that matters to me, I'm just glad to be back with them, even if we are one short. He'll always be with us, just like Mother is. I miss them both very much, though." I said.

"They were both very wonderful people. I believe your Aunt Charlotte was looking for you, you may want to go find her before something bad happens." He said and I laughed at stood up.

"I probably should. I've lost track of the days, when is the ceremony?" I said as we walked together.

"Tomorrow." He said and I stopped walking.

"Tomorrow? Oh, there's still so much to do. I'm not sure if everything will be done in time." I said.

"Don't worry, everything will be fine." He said and Aunt Charlotte walked over to me.

"There you are. Come I have something to show you." She said and dragged me away.

"What is it?" I said as we entered the small house.

"We just finished your dress." She said excitedly and I saw Abigaile holding it up for me to see.

"It's so beautiful! But what are we going to do so Harry doesn't see it?" I said.

"That's already been taken care of. All of us girls will be staying in here tonight and everyone else is staying somewhere else." Abigaile said and I should have known there would already be a plan for that.

"I can't believe I'm getting married tomorrow." I said, sitting down as the realization hit me.

"It's going to be a lovely ceremony, and if the celebration is going to be anything like it was for Gabriel and Anne's wedding, you're going to really enjoy yourself." Aunt Charlotte said and I thought back to what Harry had said about the night of the wedding, but decided not to say anything about it.

"Come, you should get to bed, we all have a very early start in the morning." Abigaile said, ushering me over to a bed. I slept well that night and was both anxious and excited for the next day.

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Thanks so much for reading! I'm really excited about the next chapter! I'll get it up as soon as possible. Thanks! :)


	20. The Wedding

CHAPTER 20! Woo! Okay, so please don't kill me because of all the historical inaccuracy. I know it's there, but this is all in the middle of the war so I really don't think many weddings were very traditional during that time. I have no idea. Also, another side of Colonel Burwell is revealed in this chapter. And there's some fluff at the end that I just had to put in there. Enjoy! :)

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I had to get up early the next morning to start getting ready and to help Susan and Margaret get ready as well (with much protest form Aunt Charlotte, of course, but I insisted). We all had a nice bath (not as nice as the one before the Middleton ball, but I wasn't complaining in the least) and as my hair was drying, I brushed out both Susan and Margaret's hair.

"Hm, what should we do with your hair?" Aunt Charlotte said, walking around me in circles like a hawk after its prey.

"I have a suggestion. How about I keep it the way it is?" I said, slightly annoyed since we had been going back and forth all morning about what to do with my hair.

"Down like that? Of course not." Aunt Charlotte said, continuing her circling.

"Aunt Charlotte, please? It's much easier that way and I won't have to worry about taking it down later." I said.

"And it's really pretty." Susan said and I smiled at her, completely agreeing with her since my hair naturally fell in soft waves down my back and I was the only of the three girls in my family with brown hair.

"I think you just don't want to deal with it tonight, even though we all know it will be taken down very quickly." Aunt Charlotte said and I gave her a pointed look for her suggestiveness around my younger sisters.

"Please Aunt Charlotte? I've had it pulled up every day since I got here. Please let me keep it down." I said.

"Oh fine. It is your day, I suppose I should let you do what you want." She said and I beamed at her. The Reverend Thomas showed up around midday and I still had an hour or two before the ceremony. I helped Margaret and Susan get dressed before I put my dress on. My dress was gorgeous, but simple, which I liked. Definitely nothing like the dress I had worn to the Middleton ball, the fabric was all one pattern (a lovely floral) and the smallest of trains at the back. Thankfully there was no corset and I was very comfortable in the dress. As the time for the ceremony grew closer, I got very nervous and started pacing around the whole room.

"You seem nervous." Aunt Charlotte said as she watched me walk by her for the hundredth time.

"Very." I said, finally sitting down, but I was still fidgety. I couldn't stay sitting down for long and I heard Aunt Charlotte sigh as I began pacing again.

"Sarah, please sit down. I'm getting exhausted just watching you." Aunt Charlotte said so I sat down, trying very hard to stay still.

"Sarah? It's time." My father said, coming into the room. Aunt Charlotte and Abigaile ushered Margaret and Susan outside, going to the place of the ceremony and leaving me alone with my father.

"You look beautiful, and so much like your mother." He said with a smile.

I smiled back and said, "I'm so nervous, and cared, terrified even, and excited and happy all at the same time."

"That's not a bad thing. Come here, I have something for you." He said and had me turn around, pulling something out of his pocket. "I gave this to Anne when she married Gabriel, it belonged to your mother. I found it in the ashes of the church. I had to clean it up and get a new ribbon for it, but now it belongs to you." He said as tied the ribbon around my neck.

"The North Star." I said and put my hand up to the pendant, tears forming in my eyes. I turned around and hugged my father tightly. "Thank you." I said as I pulled back from him.

"Come, you have a Colonel to marry. Captain." Father said and I laughed at the rank he had called me the day of the battle. We walked outside and headed towards the place of the ceremony and I got more and more nervous with every step I took. I was nearly shaking with nervousness as I began to walk down the aisle with my father, but when I saw Harry, all of my nervousness and fear vanished. I loved the way he looked without his uniform on and the look on his face was indescribable as I walked towards him. I wasn't paying attention to anything that was being said through the whole ceremony, just looking at Colonel Burwell and more in a daze than anything, but I started listening when I saw him say "I do."

"… and do you, Sarah Elizabeth Martin, take this man to be your husband, now and forever more?" The Reverend Thomas said.

"I do." I said with a smile and Colonel Burwell sealed the marriage with a kiss without having to be told. My brothers and sisters came running towards me then and I scooped Susan up into my arms and hugged everyone else as they surrounded me and when I looked over at my husband, he was laughing silently and looked the happiest I had ever seen him, making him look years younger. We had signed the marriage certificate earlier that day with my father and Aunt Charlotte as witnesses, so all we had to do then was celebrate. I put Susan down and somehow made my way back to my husband, taking his hand as we walked out into the late afternoon/early evening light. I somehow found time to dance with all of my brothers and my father and still have time for Colonel Burwell as well and just as it was getting dark, Susan came and found me, wanting me to put her to bed like I used to.

"Sarah, will you put me to bed? Like you used to?" Susan asked me when she found me.

"Of course I will. Come on." I said and picked her up, then turned to Colonel Burwell. "I'll be right back." I said and kissed him quickly.

"I'm glad you're so happy." Susan said when I tucked her in.

"Me too. None of it has really sunken in yet, though. Now get to sleep." I said and kissed Susan's forehead. She fell asleep quickly and I headed back outside to find my husband.

_My husband._ I thought to myself with a smile. That was definitely soething I could get used to. I found Colonel Burwell talking to my father, so I decided not to disturb them and found Aunt Charlotte instead.

"So. You and Father." I said, walking up next to her, and her face instantly began to redden.

"I don't know what you're talking about." She said.

"I have been watching you two. And Thomas told me about everything." I said and her blush deepened.

"You don't think it's a bad idea, do you?" Aunt Charlotte asked me anxiously.

"No. I think it's a wonderful idea, actually." I said, then walked off, leaving her with that thought. The celebration went on well into the night, but eventually we got to head to bed. Abigaile came to find us before we could go anywhere, though.

"Come with me. I'll take you where Gabriel and Anne stayed on their wedding night." She said and led us to a little two room house on the shoreline. I thanked her and we walked into the small building. I looked around, getting very nervous, even more so than I had been before the ceremony.

"You're nervous." Colonel Burwell said right behind me. I just nodded silently. "You have nothing to be nervous about. Don't worry." He said, walking around in front of me. He gently lifted my chin to make me look him in the eye and my nervousness increased, knowing what would happen that night and hoping I wouldn't dissatisfy him. I took a deep breath and he kissed me softly and I could feel all of the love and affection he put into that one kiss. I was breathless as he pulled away and he led me into the other room where we would be sleeping. He gently turned me around, moved my hair over one shoulder, and began to untie the laces of my dress.

"What's this?" He asked me, touching the ribbon of the pendant around my neck, his process of unlacing my dress paused.

"It belonged to my mother. The North Star." I said, putting my hand up to the pendant.

"I will be sure to put it in a safe place." He said and untied the ribbon, taking the pendant from around my neck and continuing to unlace my dress. He pushed the dress slowly from my shoulders, making it pool around my feet and leaving me in just my shift. I took another deep breath and slowly turned around to find that he had already discarded his shirt. I was honestly almost surprised to see how toned his body was, but once I thought about it I wasn't surprised. I looked up and he was gazing at me calmly and brushed the hair away from my face and kissed me again, pulling me closer to him and catching me when I tripped over my dress, my face reddening. I took another deep breath and forced myself to be bold and led him over to the bed, making him give me a soft smile. That whole night I wasn't sure what to do, but Colonel Burwell was very patient and gentle and I would remember that night for the rest of my life. The next morning, I woke up and almost couldn't move from being so sore everywhere. I groaned and heard someone laugh softly beside me.

"Dear Lord. What did you do to me last night?" I said, slowly turning over to face him and he was still laughing at me. "It's not funny." I said, burying my face in the pillow.

"You're right. I'm sorry. But I will say that, despite how nervous you were last night, it was wonderful, more so actually. I told you that you had nothing to worry about." He said, moving my hair and kissing my shoulder.

"I'll get back to you when I can move again." I said, my voice muffled by the pillow, and he laughed quietly again.

"Come here." He said and moved over to me, putting his hands on my shoulders and began massaging them.

"You're going to make me fall back asleep if you keep that up." I said, not sure where he learned to do that.

"Do you want me to stop?" He asked.

"No." I said, but then turned onto my back, looking up at him. "I love you." I said, looking into his eyes.

"I love you too." He said and kissed me. That whole day I didn't do anything, and no expected me to I think, and I knew from then on out I would be the happiest girl in the world.

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I would love to hear what you all thought about this! For some reason it took me forever to write this chapter. Sometimes I would just sit there and stare and the paper or computer screen (I write it both ways) for 20 or 30 minutes, not having a clue what to write. But now here it is! I would love some reviews, especially for this chapter! Thanks! :)


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